Marks and Bonds
by Akemichan07
Summary: "We can't say to be really happy, really complete, really ourselves, until we find out Soulmate. The person we aren't supposed to live without. In the past centuries finding a Soulmate was a matter of luck, but not anymore. The Soulmate System is finally working! From now on, people won't search for their Soulmate anymore, because the Soulmate System will find it
1. Chapter 1

Ace stretched his arms towards the sky. Lectures weren't always so annoying, but sometimes his narcolepsy got the best of him and hearing a man speaking for two or more hours wasn't the best way to stay awake.

He yawned, trying to focus again on his friends' conversation.

"Uh-oh," Squardo commented. "Looks like someone has just been rejected."

Ace tilted his head on the side to look where Squardo was pointed to. In the parking lot of the University Building, the old trunk of the janitor, Oars, was covered with insulting words with red paint. Oars, knelling in front of his trunk, was cleaning it, his arms and his jacked covered in red.

One of the words said: Soulless = useless.

"Are you sure?" White Bay asked. "Rejecting him is something that would affect the life of the person who did it, not only Oars."

"Yeah, but… Maybe better alone for the rest of your life than with a man like Oars?" Squardo replied. "I mean; I don't blame her."

"There should be a big age gap if Oars found her now," Doma reflected. "Maybe she was scared. Or he was the one rejected her because she is too young."

"It's still Oars's fault. He should have forced her with him." Squardo shrugged.

Ace was the one who hadn't commented.

And he didn't. He passed his friends and reached Oars. He knelled next to him and took one of the still white shred on the ground.

"May I help?"

He didn't wait for an answer, but immersed the shred in the cold water of the bucket, before rubbing the car body.

"No, no!" Oars exclaimed. "I don't want you to be associate with me."

"Why not?" Ace replied, his eyes fixed on his work.

Oars arms widened, pointing to the dirty trunk. "I'm a _Soulless_. Garbage."

Ace shrugged. "Maybe, but one with a car that needs to be cleaned."

"May I help too?"

Both men lifted their head: Moda, with a light blush on her face and her hands hidden in her skirt, was in front of them.

"Sure." Ace smiled and throw her a shred. Moda rested her bag on the ground and got to work.

Oars was about to protest, but his eyes were already full of tears. He didn't even hide them, but he returned back rubbing the trunk as the tears crossed his cheeks. The three of them kept working in silent, only broke from time to time by Oars's sighs. But it was heartwarming for both Ace and Moda noticing the tears had stopped and a crocked smile had appeared on Oars's lips.

"It isn't your grandfather?" Moda asked suddenly.

A giant white Volkswagen parked in the worst way possible in the parking lot. Ace cursed under his breath: sure it was his grandpa. He decided to not pay him attention and kept rubbing the body car even if that part was already clean.

Both Moda and Oars looked at him perplex, but they didn't press. Their attention was only focused on the giant police officer in front of them.

"Let's go, Ace."

"I'm busy, don't you see?" Ace replied, without looking at him. Why greeting him, if Garp was the first one to be rude?

"Are you going to disobey to your grandfather?" Garp was shocked, as it wasn't something Ace did on daily basis, since Garp's requests are totally the opposite of Ace's desires. "Well, someone here needs a lesson."

"You can go," Moda said, gently. "We're almost done here, and I can stay a little more with Oars."

"Yes!" Oars chirped in. "Thank you so much for all you did for me today!"

Ace looked at both of them, annoyed they had given Garp a reason to take him, but then he realized they were only try to help him not having trouble. So he nodded.

"Okay. Let's meet tomorrow." Ace stood up and clean his hands on one of the unused shreds. "And Oars… Don't mind it so much," he added, nodded with his head at the trunk. He ignored totally the look Garp gave him and anticipated him in the car.

"You don't usually pick me up," Ace commented, as Garp left the parking lot. "What did I do today?"

"It's been almost two weeks since your birthday," Garp stated. "Why haven't you register for the _Soulmate Matching_ yet?"

Ace snorted. "You know very well why."

Garp sighed. "We hadn't reason to believe your test would be different from anybody else."

"We hadn't reason to believe the contrary either," Ace replied. "Can really someone whose parents weren't Soulmates have the same results of others? I'm not like other people and you know it."

"Well, they don't."

"Oh, I'm a lot more relieved now." Ace emitted a small laugh. "They will find out as soon as they analyze my blood. Who do you think they'll do once they discover I'm Roger's son?"

"I don't know," Garp admitted. "But not register for the _Soulmate Matching_ is against the law. If you show good will, the will to stay in the _Soulmate System_ , they will ignore your father."

"You don't really believe it, do you?"

Garp didn't answer. "If you don't register within the three weeks after your birthday, they will force you to do it."

"I know."

Ace didn't plan to escape by the groom system of the Soulmates. He was just gained some time for himself, before faced his destiny. In the best case, he would have become like Oars, an outcast.

Garp looked tired and oldest than usual, and his big hands clenched the wheel. Ace figured Garp was just trying to protect him the best way he could, since he was a member of the _Soulmate Agency_ himself.

"Okay. Bring me to the nearest _Soulmate Agency Office_."

"Glad you have some sense in that thick head of yours."

Garp was already drove towards the _Soulmate Agency Office_ he worked on, so he parked in the spot reserved for him, but then nodded to Ace to go alone. He was going to protect him, but for now he would keep a low profile. Ace didn't mind. He didn't need a baby-sitter anyway.

He closed the car door and looked up at the glass building in front of him. All the _Soulmate Agency Office_ s were similar: rectangular, with large window that still couldn't let anyone look inside, with at least ten floor. Funny enough, the visitors could access only a few of them, and Ace wondered how many secrets were holding in the others.

Ace entered by the main door and looked at the sign; the _Soulmate Meeting Office_ was indicated above the center one of the three lift on the next, so Ace took it without asking at the front office. The lift had only two button, one for the second floor and one for the zero floor, so Ace pressed the first one.

He found himself in a waiting hall with some uncomfortable chair and a small table with a pile of magazines. At the opposite wall, a glass door with a plaque saying 'Soulmate Matching Registration'. Two people arrived before him, so Ace sat down and waited for his turn before entering the office.

"I'm here for the registration for the _SM_."

"That's our job, so you couldn't be here for something else." The girl sitting on the opposite side of the desk smiled, her voice happy.

Ace frowned: he wasn't there for laugh.

"Please hand me your ID," the girl continued.

Ace obeyed, then looked carefully as she inserted it in her machine, automatically registering his data on the system and verifying they were correct. She printed a bunch of cards, before gave back the ID to Ace.

"So, Mister Portgas, now I need you to fill these for me."

She lent them the papers: each one of them has a number with a bar code on the right up corner, and it was full of question, both open and multiple choice ones. Ace leafed through the pages. The questions began with ordinary things like occupation or medical history, but they got stranger and stranger. Ace was asked about his preference for everything, from food to colors, including sexual kinks.

"Did I have too?" Ace asked. "What has this to do with my Soulmate?"

"Yes, you have to," the girl answered, with an encouraging smile. "It is important for us to see how well a person matches with his Soulmate in every part of life."

"Oh, so you admit there could be two Soulmates that didn't match at all," Ace purred.

"Of course not." This time, she wasn't smiling, but it lasted only a second. "If it's your Soulmate, is the right person for you. Otherwise it wouldn't be a Soulmate, am I right?" She laughed a little. "Some relationships can be a little hard… but everyone is happy and the end."

Ace looked unimpressed.

"The _SM_ let people find their Soulmates easier. We make people happy, isn't that great?"

Her eyes shining and Ace wondered if she was instructed to say it or if she actually believed all the bullshit she'd told him.

"Do you have a Soulmate?" he asked her.

And suddenly, her face became stone. "Private question are not allowed here while I'm working," she stated. "Of course, your file will be classified too. Only the people working here can access it. Now, please fill it." The she ignored him as she prepared the tools for the analysis.

Ace sighed and took a pen. He contemplated for a second the idea to lie about everything, but then he did only in some questions he felt too personal. Even if the file was classified, someone would have still read it and there was something Ace just didn't want anything to find out, as his relationship with his brothers. He'd like to protect them from everything would come at him.

Once he finished, the girl put all the papers in a folder with the same number and bar code assigned to him and placed it in a pile with the tag 'to archive'.

"Please, your hand."

Ace leaned it towards her. She grabbed his index finger and she rolled up to the point a small piece of paper. Ace felt a sting and, when the girl took back the paper, he noticed the bloodstain on it. She put it an envelope, then asked Ace to pass under his tongue a piece of cotton attached to a thin pole. It was then closed in a test tube that, as the envelope, has the same number and bar code of the papers.

Well, at least they pretended to care about privacy, since in none of the document there was Ace's name, but only something he could be connected with his ID. Funny they do something like that and, in the same time, they managed to ask something as private as if he was into scatting.

"Aaaand we're done," the girl smiled. "If you're lucky and your Soulmate is already in our database, you'll be informed within a week. Otherwise, I'm sorry but you have to wait until your Soulmate won't be sitting here like you in this moment."

Standing up, Ace hoped that time would be in a very long future.


	2. Chapter 2

Sengoku looked carefully at Akainu standing in front of him. Akainu's requested an urgent meeting without advance notice and that was unusual, so Sengoku was wary. It could be something about national security. So he skipped greetings.

"What happened?"

"Two days ago a boy named Portgas D. Ace presented himself in _Office_ #34 to register," Akainu stated.

"Like everyone in this world," Sengoku muttered, impatient.

"Yes. And as usual his blood and his DNA had been tested. It appears he's the son of Gold Roger."

"The son of Roger?" Sengoku repeated, eyes bolding and mouth opened.

"Yes. There's no mistake about it." Since Sengoku cursed under his breath but said nothing, Akainu added, "I took permission to investigate in Portags D Ace's personal files. Looks like he's the foster nephew of Vice Chairman Monkey D. Garp."

"Yeah, I know." Sengoku nodded. "Damn Garp. He's a hot-head, but thinking he hid something so big right under our nose…"

Akainu didn't comment. "There's more, sir."

"Go ahead," Sengoku sighed.

"Portgas D. Ace has a matching in our _Soulmate Database_."

Akainu preferred being dramatic and moved forward the folder about the case on the desk. Sengoku glared at him for a second, but opened the folder and read it: his eyes became, if possible, even bolder.

"Roger's son's Soulmate is one of the Edward Newgate's scoundrel?"

There wasn't any reason to answer, since Sengoku was only recapping what was written on the papers, but Akainu nodded.

"How can we proceed?" he asked then. "If it was only about Roger's son, I could have suggested an erasure, but…"

Sengoku lift his hand to stop him. He lent his head the back of his other hand and reflected. His finger tapped on the folder still opened in front of him.

"It's been years from the last time we have a way to slip into Newgate's gang and I don't want to miss it," Sengoku admitted. "They've been doing their way for too long and it is time to bring them back in the _Soulmate System_."

"I figured that much," Akainu agreed.

"But, at the same time, thinking they'll meet Roger's son…"

Akainu moved forwards and closed the folder. "A little risk is necessary, in this case."

Sengoku looked at it. "Prepare all the procedure for the _Soulmate Destiny Meeting_."

"I thought on sending the Cp0 to Newgate, so we can be sure he can't refuse the call."

"Wise choice, the old man could be cunning enough to testify he never received the notification." Then Sengoku added, "But I want to be clear, they must be surveilled day and night. I don't want to give Newgate another reason to believe the _Soulmate System_ is wrong," he explained. "If they behave, we'll only have another proof we're right despite our enemies."

"Can I have permission to erase Roger's son, in case?" Akainu asked as he took back the folder.

Sengoku was already back on the paper he was working on before the interruption, so he only asked briefly.

"Of course."

"They're here. _Again_."

Haruta snorted. Her hand moved the curtains of the kitchen so she could take a better look of the mansion's gate, where three men of the Cp0 were standing. A second later, the doorbell rang.

"The Cp0?" Thatch asked. "I should start cooking for them too, since they're always here."

"Let's Pops deal with them," Marco suggested; he sat at the kitchen's table and he don't even lift his head from his laptop.

"Plus it's more fun," Haruta added, amused. "I'll call him."

It wasn't necessary: at the second ring the three of them saw the enormous figures of Edward Newgate rushing towards the entrance door, basically jumping the stairs.

"Enough of this!" They heard him commented, before he was out.

"Oh, this is more fun," Haruta chirped, before turning at the window.

This time Thatch joined her, with his spoon still in hand, while Marco only raised an eyebrow and sighed. He used to enjoy Pops' rebuttal to the government officers, but they've became so omniums later Marco was more focused about Pops' health than happy about hurting their pride.

But when he didn't hear neither Thatch nor Haruta laughing at the scene, he worried. He lifted his head: they both looked perplex.

"Why… Why isn't Pops yelling at them anymore?" Haruta asked. She wasn't amused.

Marco joined them: the Cp0 looked less aggressive that time, or at least it appeared to Marco by the way they're moving. And Pops… His shoulders were hollowed, and he remained still in front of them, silent. Then, the head of the Cp0's group took something from his pocket and passed it to Pops, who took it.

Marco, Haruta e Thatch looked as the Cp0 left; Pops returned to the house only when he was sure of it, and appeared in the kitchen few minutes after. He wasn't surprise the three of them had peeked from the window, still he didn't give them an explanation.

"So? What happened?" Haruta exclaimed, irritated. "Are you going to keep us like this?"

"Yeah, no fair!" Thatch added. "They didn't behave as usual."

"Because they weren't here to pester us about our way of living," Newgate explained, as he sat down at the table. "Give me some drink and I'll tell you everything."

Thatch hurried to serve him a glass of whiskey, then took place in front of him. Haruta was already next to him and both of them looked at him in awe. Marco knew better they're hiding their anxiety behind curiosity, or maybe hoped to hear something funny instead of some bad news. He returned in front of his laptop, but he didn't stop observing Pops as he drank the entire glass in one sip.

"You know, my children, I'm not against Soulmates," Edward began. "They exist, we can't negate it, and I understand the curiosity of meeting one. What I despise is the _Soulmate System_ that forces people together and, in the same time, turns into garbage all the people that have the misfortune of not having a Soulmate. Or that don't want one."

"You're scaring me, Pops," Haruta admitted.

All he was saying, they already knew. It was the very reason the Whitebeard Family existed: a place where people with no Soulmate, for whatever reasons they could have, could live happy, not alone. Could have a family.

"I'm sorry." Edward caressed Haruta's head with his giant hand, making her smiled. "I just want to be sure this didn't change anything. Whatever Marco's decision will be."

"My decision?" Marco blinked and, for the first time, he looked interested by the conversation, though before he was only pretended not to be.

Edward nodded. He lent to him the envelope that, Marco recognized, was the same Pops had received from the CP0.

"They found your Soulmate."

"Aww, that's sucks."

It was Luffy's comment once he discovered Ace'd received the informative mail about his Soulmate, who was supposed to meet in few days.

Ace shrugged. "It's unfortunate, but at least I won't spend any more days with the anxiety of opening my mail and find out about this."

Sabo tilted his head. "Don't go," he said then. "To the _SDM_ , I mean."

"Isn't it like – illegal?" Ace asked, doubt in his voice.

"Yes, it is." Sabo snorted. "But at least they'll know you don't agree with this."

"It doesn't matter, really."

"Aren't you still thinking about what happened with Oars, are you?" Sabo's gaze was piecing, his eyelid still so he couldn't miss any of Ace's movements.

"No. Of course no…"

"What happened to Oars?" Luffy asked, perplex. The tone in his voice meant he wouldn't have rest until he got an answer, but Sabo had no reason to hide it to him.

"His soulmate refused him; since he's a decent man he didn't force the union and now he's like a nobody for the society," Sabo explained. "Every day someone paints his car or threw eggs to his windows…" He bit his lips and his fist clenched, showed how much he despised the situation. "Though this isn't a good reason for Ace to just accept someone out of the blue."

"Oh…" Luffy blinked, until he fully understood the implication of what Sabo had just told him, the he smiled. "Don't worry, Ace, we'll help you cleaning your car anytime!"

Unable to resist to Luffy's unwandered optimistic side, Ace chuckled. "Thank you, Luffy, but I don't even have a car."

"Well, we have a scooter, it is the same."

"See?" Sabo commented, with a big smile. "No reason at all to go."

"Except that it is illegal not to and I don't want the Government to come and pick me up. Or worse, they could send Gramps." At the mention of Garp, the other two shivered. "This doesn't mean I'll go along with it. I'll meet my Soulmate and then tell her or him I'm not interested. I want this to be easier for me as possible. If they find out…"

Ace stopped. Even if both his brothers already knew about his father, it didn't mean it was something he'd like to remember.

"I won't give the Government any reason to search on me," he concluded.

Sabo was about to say something, but then he nodded. "Okay." He turned his head to the television screen, even if it was turned off, to hide his sad expression. "At least your Soulmate is from this city, so you won't travel far…"

"If people threw eggs at you, they'll be the stupid ones," Luffy added. "Why waste eggs when you can eat them?"

Again, Ace couldn't help but laugh and this time even Sabo joined them.

Marco sighed.

He tried, he really tried to ignore Thatch and his looks, paying him not attention while he prepared himself for the _Soulmate Destiny Meeting_. But the situation was becoming ridiculous fast, and even Marco's usual self-control was at his limit, having Thatch – the one who was basically unable to shut up – looking at him without saying a word.

At the end, he admitted defeated.

"If you have something to say, go ahead."

Thatch let a long, dramatic sigh. "Are you really sure of it?" he asked. "Maybe it's better…"

"…letting the CP0 having a reason to force this house open to drag me on meeting my Soulmate?" Marco ended the sentence for him. "You should know there's nothing we can do once they found my Soulmate than follow their rules."

 _At least for now_ , Marco thought, but he didn't share the feeling with Thatch.

"Always the selfless one, aren't you?" Thatch meant it as a joke, but there was some bitterness in the way he bent the lips down.

"Someone has to be," Marco agreed, with a little smirk.

"Well, at the end she could be nice," Thatch commented to himself. "Will you introduce her to me if she's hot?"

Marco shook his head, but he knew Thatch was only cheered him up, so he got along. "Why you're so sure my Soulmate's a girl?"

"A man can dream."

"Then another man must wake you up. She'll be too young for you, so the answer is no."

"Hey, how could you know?" Thatch protested so adamant he stood up from the chair.

"I'm in the _Soulmate Database_ since I was eighteen," Marco explained him. He spoke as if Thatch was a child. "If they found my Soulmate just now… it probably means he or she turned twenty just now."

"Well, that makes sense," Thatch admitted unwilling.

Then he remained silent again, and Marco took the chance to return back at the mirror. He adjusted for the last time his necktie and then put the jacket of his suits. He'd chose his favorite one, light grey with the light blue shirt and the blue necktie. It was for sure a formal dress, because Marco's objective was to make clear this entire situation, for him, wasn't any different from work.

Something he had to do, not something he was going to enjoy.

No matter how much the Government publicized finding a Soulmate as the life-changing event which gave people the happy ending forever, Marco knew better how impossible was to be happy only because the name of another person was marked on your skin.

"That means she'll be too young for you too."

Marco was focused on tying his shoes, so he didn't understand at first Thatch was talking with him. Then he regained the way their previous conversation ended.

"Correct," he nodded. He stood up and, with a last look at the clock, he took his jacket. It was almost time.

"Then… What do you have in your mind?"

"I'll take the Porsche," Marco said, shrugging. Without another word, he left the room and headed to the parking lot of the mansion.

He had a lot of things in his mind, but for now he couldn't share any of them with Thatch. Or with anybody else of his family, because he knew they wouldn't have approved most of them. First of all, though, he needed to meet his Soulmate. As much as Marco couldn't stand it, half of the decision of this matter would depend from his Soulmate's decision.

Marco had only one hope, that he or she wasn't someone who really believed in the _Soulmate System_. Even if he knew it was a very slim hope, since very few people were brave enough to fight the system and accept a life of loneness and discrimination.

Despite the cool weather, he let the car windows opened, so the wind could mess a little with his air and his mind would cool down. Some of his brothers joked about him and his poker face and Marco would need all of it to face the person who could ruin his live.

When he reached the _Soulmate Agency Office_ , he took some time to find the perfect spot to park his car. He'd chose the black Porsche because it was both a car he didn't use often and the one the member of the Soulmate Council preferred, so Marco's wouldn't have been so easily recognized. Plus, he parked it at the end of the parking lot, where it couldn't be seen from the main entrance.

He took the letter from the pocket and read it one last time. For the _Soulmate Destiny Meeting_ , the person should enter from a specific entrance, to avoid for the two Soulmates to meet before the government could check on them. So the building had a line of small entrance on both of its side.

Marco still looked around, but he didn't spot anyone else. So he headed to the entrance assigned to him, the first one on the left side: it was just a glass sliding door which lend in a small hallway. The only furniture was a desk on the right, where a girl was sitting, while on the left side there were three lifts. Other than that, the walls were occupied by photo of happy and smiling couples and they were so many it was almost impossible to recognize the color of the wall below.

"We hope your photo will join our happy ending wall soon."

Marco jolted and turned his head to the girl. She was now standing next to him, a huge smile in his face. Marco felt ashamed of himself for having let her approaching him without noticing.

"Don't need to be afraid," the girl said. "Today is a great day!" He returned to his desk and grabbed a paper. "So are you…?"

"Marco Newgate."

"Oh, yes, I see. How lucky you are." The big smile was still on her face, making Marco wondered if it was some sort of paralysis. "Miss Vinsmoke will be the one taking care of you. Please, left lift." She showed him the way with her hand.

"Thank you."

Marco approached the lift, but the door opened only when the girl pressed some button from her desk. No surprise, since the lift brought people to the offices inside the palace, so nobody could access without permission. And, Marco imagined, the owner of the office should be informed too, to be there waiting for the guests.

And so was 'Miss Vinsmoke', because she greeted him when the lift's doors opened.

"Welcome, Mister Newgate. Please have a sit, we have a lot to discuss about."

Now that Marco met her in person, the girl's opinion was more clear. The woman in front of us was Reiju Vinsmoke, the daughter of one of the scientist that implemented the Soulmate System, so one of the most influenced family who worked with the government.

"I didn't imagine someone so important to be my owner today," Marco admitted, as he sat down at the desk. "I'm flattered."

Reiju smiled. "I'm not sure you should be," she replied. "We participated in the _SDM_ only if it could become… problematic."

"So mine is problematic?" Marco played innocent.

"I recalled you being smart enough to understand that your… father's whereabouts make us a little bit wary," Reiju answered. "Also, there's some age gap between you and your Soulmate, which put the _SDM_ in the yellow category. But don't worry, we'll do our best to make your relationship works. It's destiny, after all."

Marco decided he liked Reiju. She'd talked about important things without hiding anything, and the other blabber about destiny had been said with such poison in her tone, Marco was sure she didn't believe in them at all.

A look at her office solidified his thought: everything was pink and red, from walls to furniture, but there was nothing romantic about it, not rose or heart or happy photo. The red color bright almost like blood. At the wall, butterflies were closed in red frames, and in the opened closet Marco saw three case, two with serpents and one with a tarantula inside.

Reiju was used the most romantic things and turned it in showing how dangerous she could become. Intriguing.

"So…" Reiju had recovered a folder from her archive and was now sitting in front of him, on the other side of the desk. "It's been a long time since you signed for the _SM_ , so I'd like you to confirm if the form you compiled is still accurate."

Marco recognized the folder, even if it had forgot about it in the past. All his preference he was forced to write down even if he didn't have any. He was just a lost boy back then, with no family nor ambition, when finding a Soulmate could be his only way out from a life of misery.

"Yes, many things changed," he said, between his teeth.

"Let's get started, then."

They spend the next hour with Reiju reading the answers she had on the folder and Marco corrected them. It wasn't pleasant, for Marco. Most of the answers he'd given back then didn't represent him at all, he'd said that hoping to be accepted easier by his Soulmate.

He was gay, but he'd written down bisexual because he couldn't risk a woman being repulsed by him. Favorite position in bed? Reverse, so his Soulmate could be the one to choose. When Marco couldn't have decided which answer would have given him more chances, he'd left it blank.

In the end it was useless, because his Soulmate had yet to be born. But now Marco was grateful of it: it gave him the chance to meet Pops, and also to be actually himself. Who his Soulmate was didn't matter anymore.

But at the end, Marco felt exhausted.

"We're almost there," Reiju assured him, sympathetic. "Would you like something to drink?"

"A gin tonic."

Before she could agree of it, her phone rang. "Yes?" she answered. "Okay, we're ready too. I'll send him upstairs." When she hung up, an apologetic smile was on her lips. "Your gin tonic will be here later, now you have to go." And she nodded at the lift behind him, the same he'd taken to reach her office.

"Don't let me down on this," he joked, standing up. Like the first time, the lift's door opened by themselves and Marco didn't chose the floor because it moved automatically. Three floor, more or less, he counted.

The room he found at the end of the travel was the smallest one, and totally covered by mirrors: the wall, the floor, the ceiling. Marco looked around, only seeing his confused face looking him back.

"Please, take off your clothes and place them in the basket. Every single one of them."

A voice came out of nowhere, and Marco understood they were looking at him behind one of those mirrors. It was impossible find which one. He spotted instead the basket the voice was referring too, on the other side of the room.

Marco drew nearby it and undressed. He took all the time he needed, folding every piece with care. He placed in the basket first the shoes, then the socks. He piled trousers, jacked and shirt, while placed pants and necktie on the side.

"Please, return to the center of the room." Marco obeyed, shivered a little. "Lift your arms, open the hands and remain still."

Flash came from all the direction and Marco shut his eyes, swearing. He should have seen it coming, since the government should verify he had still no marks on his skin.

"Please, open your hands."

Marco'd closed them for the surprise. He breathed low and managed to calm himself, but still kept his eyes shut so he couldn't be blind.

"You can dress again."

Marco hurried next to the basket and managed to retrieve his robe fast. Still, he was still fixing his necktie when the mirror in front of him opened, revealing a short white hallway. Once Marco had stepped into, the mirror closed back. With no one to order him around anymore, the only thing remained was to proceed.

At the end of the hallway there was a door. Marco pushed the handle and the door opened, so he entered: the next room was shaped as the hallway, only with a square form. But Marco's attention was caught more from the other person waiting in the room.

As he'd imagined, his Soulmate was young. And, much to Thatch's displeasure, he was a boy. Marco chuckled a little seeing how much opposite they'd dressed, since the boy had only jeans with orange Converse and a leather jacket more suited for a motorcycles meeting than a formal one.

The sound made the boy, who until that moment was giving his back to Marco, to turn around with a surprise face. Marco noticed the boy's cheek were sprayed by freckles, which made his face nicer than his hard expression.

"So… I suppose you should be my Soulmate," Marco said. "I'm Marco Newgate, nice to meet you." And he lent a hand to him.

He didn't shake it, but kept looking at him, suspicious.

"Newgate…" he said at least. "As Edward Newgate of the Whitebeard Corporation?"

Marco nodded. "Edward Newgate is my father and I'm the General Manager of the Corporation." Then he added, "We're pretty rich, yes."

The boy smirked. "Do you like to answer thing nobody asked you, or do you just like showing off?"

"My apologies," Marco said. He didn't mean to be arrogant. "I guessed that's what you'd like to know, since the Soulmate System guarantees for the less wealthy partner access to the other's property, but maybe I was wrong."

"Well, for someone this could be the happy ending, so…" The boy shrugged. "Whatever."

"Indeed."

Marco liked this boy. At least, his instinct said so. Or at least he hoped it was his instinct and not his dick, because his soulmate was hot. He could notice the muscle below the orange t-shirt he wore. But even if his mind remained for a few seconds imagining the mirror rooms again, where both of them had stayed naked, Marco couldn't forget he was so young. And still, he was stuck with him.

Marco felt sorry about it.

"So… What happen now?" The boy asked. "They're letting us closed here?"

"Only until they'll be sure we're Soulmate" Marco specified.

"Don't they already know that?"

"The system told them so, but you should know Soulmate get the corresponding name marked on their skin only when they meet," Marco explained. "But I don't think they'll have to wait long."

And, with a slight smile, he pointed to the boy's left hand. Even if he was far enough Marco couldn't read it clearly, he was sure that mark wasn't there before. The boy lifted the hand as something had bitten it.

"You said your name's Marco…?" And then, he didn't wait for an answer. "Shit."

Marco smiled apologetic, but before he had any chance to say something, the voice from outside ordered, "Please, come back."

With a last look at the boy, Marco turned his back and headed towards the hallway he'd come from. He found the mirror door opened and then he had to repeated again the all procedure about the photo. He didn't check his skin looking for the tattoo; if he hadn't, they would tell them as first thing.

But since Reiju only smiled at him, when he climbed down to her office, Marco got he had the mark somewhere. At least she respected the promise about the gin tonic, so Marco sat down and drank the glass on the deck.

"How did it go?" Reiju asked.

Marco shrugged. "I can't say, he didn't even tell me his name."

"Name's Portgas D. Ace." Reiju filled his blank in a casual way. "And don't worry, you'll have some time to know him better." And she placed in front of him a heavy folder.

Marco blinked at it, then he opened it perplex. It was a long list with a lot of different objects, it looked almost as a supermarket discount pamphlet.

"Glad to explain?" Marco asked.

"The _SDM_ is divided in two parts," Reiju began. "The first one is for us to check the system was correct. The second one is for you to get knowing your Soulmate better before returning in the real world." She pointed at the folder. "We want you to be as comfortable as possible, so it's up to you to choose the furniture of the room." And she lent him a paper where he could fill the number corresponding the object he chose.

"People really choose things like that for the first date?" Marco commented, as he browsed the pages of beds and sexual toys.

Reiju scoffed. "Some people fist fuck, then talk."

"I'm going to be traditional. A table with two chair and something to drink will be fine."

Marco wrote down some numbers in the paper and returned it to Reiju. No matter how much they talked about the greater good, letting them spoke in a government palace was another way to check on them. And Marco wouldn't give them any chance to discover what was truly in his mind.

"Thank you. Just a few minutes for preparation."

Reiju didn't come back, but the lift's door opened, so Marco got he had to go. This time, it was two floor up, or at least it seemed to him. And no hallway or mirror rooms, even if the wall were still white. Marco remembered he could have chosen even painters and other furniture, but he hadn't care.

At the center of the room, there was a table. Marco blinked, because it was full of tray of hot food: Marco recognized hamburgers, Chinese and Indian foods, some cakes. It was so much for the table some plates were piled one to another.

"I didn't order so much," he said loudly.

"I did." The boy –Ace – had just entered in the room. He didn't lose time, but he sat down and grabbed the first box. Opening it, a smell of fried chicken filled the room. "They said it's all up to them, so at least I took the chance." He stuffed his mouth with how much chicken he could.

"I don't think we can eat so much," Marco commented, as he sat down in front of him.

"Who says it's for you?"

Marco saw in awe Ace threw away the first box, grabbed a hamburger and finished it in three bites. Ace didn't eat, he sucked everything and he didn't even chew. Marco found himself unable to take off his eyes.

At some point, when Ace was eating Soba, he fainted; his head fell in the plate in front of him. Marco jumped still, looking around to look for help. He had some medical knowledge, but he hadn't seen anyone fainting like that. Since nobody was coming, Marco turned to check on Ace and he found out he was breathing regularly, almost as he was… sleeping.

Perplex, Marco waited a couple of minutes, until Ace woke up by himself.

"Sorry," he said, as he grabbed the first shred he found to cleaning his face. "I'm narcoleptic."

Then he resumed his eating as nothing was happened. Once he finished all the food it was served, much to Marco's shock, he burped and stretched. He looked so relaxed, despite the situation.

"How much do you think they're keeping us here?" he asked.

"I don't know," Marco answered. "Since they're checking if we're or not a safe Soulmates Pairing, I suppose until they have the answer."

"Okay."

Ace pushed the empty boxes and plates on both side of the table, until he made enough space in front of him; then he placed his head on his crossed arms. In few minutes, he snored. Marco couldn't help but smiled.

Ace did make clear he wasn't interested in the Soulmate Meeting. Of course, Marco agreed with him and he felt lucky his Soulmate wasn't someone who believed in happy ending at every cost, but at the same time Marco would have preferred not giving that impression to the Government.

He knew they would look carefully at him because he was one of Newgate's son, no reason to show them he was okay to live outside the system. Still, he couldn't wake up Ace: Marco felt sorry he was stuck with him, so at least he would give him some time.

Almost an hour passed, before a girl came to pick them up. It wasn't Reiju, neither someone Ace'd already met, Marco could say by his perplex look as he woke up. She didn't use neither of the lifts they'd came from before, but one hidden in one of the wall.

"Please, follow me."

They took her lift and returned to the zero floor. Marco recognized it was the main entrance of the building. The girl lent them to the welcoming desk. There were other people there, who looked at them and smiled. Marco ignored them and focused his attention to the girl. Ace, at his next, looked more tense than before.

The girl made them signed some paper who certified they'd participated at the Soulmate Destiny Meeting and it was confirmed they're soulmate. Then she consigned them the Soulmate Card. Marco looked at his: his photo and his soulmate number were there, along with Ace's name and number.

It was no different from a certificate of possess.

"Congratulation for your meeting," the girl ended, with a big smile. "You'll be happy even after."

By the look Ace gave him, Marco was sure he found her nuts. Or at least hypocrite.

They left the building from the main entrance. It wasn't just a procedure of the _Soulmate Destiny Meeting_ , it was a metaphor of life. Now they had a Soulmate, they're rightfully members of the society and they could use the main entrance. Previous, they were poor unfortunate soul, with no right to stand where the normal people stayed; only secondary entrance for them.

"Well, it was fun," Ace commented in a sarcastic way, with a shrug.

"You got a free meal," Marco remembered him.

"That's true," Ace nodded. "See you," he added, just for courtesy, while his entire body was aiming in the opposite direction.

"How do you get here? Do you have a car?" Marco stopped him.

"With the Metro, but-"

"Let me give you a lift."

Ace created some space between the two of them and put his arms in front of him, to protect himself. "No, thank you," he said, firm.

This time, Marco wouldn't get along with him, as much as he displeased him. In a second, he grabbed one of Ace's arm.

"I'll give you a lift," he repeated, the tone indicated he wouldn't accept a no as answered.

But Ace wasn't ready to surrender yet. "Let me go right now."

Marco didn't answer, neither obeyed. He tightened the grip on Ace's arm and dragged him towards his Porsche, no matter how much Ace tried to get lose pulling himself in the opposite direction or kicking him. When Ace got the point he bit the hand that was keeping him, Marco was relieved they'd reached the car.

He pushed the automatic button on his key, then opened the driver's door and pushed Ace inside. As soon as he was free from Marco's grip, Ace rushed towards the other door, crawling on the seats. Marco was faster and sat down on the driver's seat as he closed the doors with his key. When Ace reached his one, it was already locked.

"Put the belt on," Marco ordered.

Ace, his hands still on the handle of the car door, turned to look at him. There was hatred in his eyes and not even the freckles could turn his face childish anymore. Marco couldn't stand the sight, so he focused in front of him.

"Put the belt on," he repeated.

Ace sat down better on his seat, crossing his arms stubbornly, and he didn't make any gesture towards the belt. Marco sighed: even if he couldn't blame his behavior, he couldn't afford to tolerate it just now.

"No. Don't even try," Ace warned him as he saw Marco approached him, but the space in the car was too small for Ace to move freely and even his kicks couldn't reach Marco, who was still safe in his seat. "Don't touch me!" Marco forced Ace's leather jacket down, then used the sleeves to tie up his wrists.

Ace struggled for a second, breathing hard. He looked at Marco, who was still above him, his mouth half opened. Then he spat him.

"You jerk," he growled. "You won't get away with this, I swear."

Marco sighed in his mind, but forced himself to keep his stone face. "I won't?" he said, cold. He grabbed Ace's face, his finger sank in Ace's cheeks. "You're my Soulmate, you should know what it means."

He waited for Ace to say something, but the only thing Marco got was his hatred look.

"The government can't force two Soulmates together… unless at least one of them wants it," Marco explained. "I can bring you to my house and shut you in my closet and nobody will do anything because I've the right to do so. It's not a crime anymore if it's between two Soulmates," Marco ended.

He let Ace go and fastened his belt, before turning on his seat. He put his belt on too and turned on the car, while he didn't look at Ace at all. He couldn't stay his glare anymore.

"I could kill you," Ace affirmed, after the Porsche's left the parking lot and returned in the traffic.

"Unfortunately for you, this is the only illegal action a Soulmate can commit," Marco answered, a little amused. "I can hit, kidnap or rape my soulmate, but kill him? How cruel!"

"You're a jerk," Ace commented, but he didn't add anything else.

Marco used his sleeve to clean his face from the saliva, then fixed a little his rear-view mirror. He would have preferred leaving the parking lot faster, instead they'd given some time for the Cp0 to organize and follow them. Still, Marco'd expect it.

Ace turned his head a little: two gray vans were behind them. "They're following us?" There wasn't hope in his voice, it was a genuine question.

"Not for long," Marco assured him.

He positioned the car in the left lane, then, when the traffic light turned yellow, he moved faster to the right one. When it was green, he was able to turned right, while the Cp0's vans where stuck in the other lane. Marco took another corner, and then another one, just to be sure they couldn't understand the street he reached. He only hoped they hadn't the time to plant a bug in the car.

"So, where do you live?" he asked Ace. "I'm still giving you a lift."

"Fuck you," was Ace's answer.

Marco sighed. "You know I can just call a Soulmate Agency Office and they'll give me any information I need about you?"

Ace shrugged. "Then do it."

"I was hoping for you to be rational," Marco sighed again, as he reached his cellphone and connected it to the Bluetooth of the car.

"Rational?" Ace busted out. "You kidnapped me, you tied me up in your car and threated me to lock me up in your closed and I'm being irrational? You son of a-"

"And I'll gag you too if you don't shut up," Marco cut him, as Siri's voice came up from the cellphone asking what can it do for them.

"Oh, well, it won't be worse," Ace commented bitter, but then obeyed with a snort.

"Siri, please searched the Assistance Number of the Soulmate Agency and dial it for me," Marco said. Siri did as it was ordered and in few seconds the phone rang, then the voice of a girl answered.

"Soulmate Assistance Office, how can I help you?"

"My Soulmate forgot to tell me his address and I'd like to surprise him," Marco lied, with a meaningfully glare at Ace, who just shrugged.

"Sure. Please tell me your Soulmate Number and then his one."

Marco took advance of the red traffic light and grabbed the Soulmate Card to read them.

"Thank you. The address is Mount Corbo Street, number 3, in the Goa district. Do you need anything else?"

"No, thank you." Marco closed the call and then shot a look at Ace, who turned immediately his face to the window. "Siri, please, search the direction of Mount Corbo Street 3."

When they reached the address, Marco stopped the car a little before the right civic number and parked the car in the first spot available. Ace was still looking at the windows, but Marco spoke anyway.

"Now listen carefully," he began. "I'm not interested in having a relationship with you only because you're my Soulmate, neither I'm interesting in kids."

"I'm not a kid!" Ace protested.

"So that's your problem now?" Marco smirked, making Ace blush a little. He returned immediately to face the window. "You're still twenty years younger. But that's not the problem," Marco continued. "Even if I'm not interesting, I don't want give the Cp0 any reason to spit on my family or my Corporation."

Since Ace wasn't commented, Marco continued, "So we're faking it. We'll see each other, let's see, two or three time a week, just to make them believe everything is fine. As long as I'll be sure they won't bother me anymore, we'll be done."

Ace was still silent.

"I think that's the best solution for you too, since it's obvious you don't care about the soulmate thing either," Marco added. "Of course, if there's some place you'd like to go… And I can give you money if you-"

"I don't need your money," Ace spat, still not looking at him.

"Fine," Marco agreed. "Are you okay with this?"

This time, Ace looked at him. No hatred was there anymore, but it was sure the glare of someone that despite the person he was talking to. "Like I have a choice," he commented. "Can I go now?"

Marco nodded at him to turn his back, so he could untie the jacket. As soon Ace's hands were free, he unfasted the belt, wore the jacket back and reached for the car door.

"Give me your phone number," Marco said. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Go ask the Soulmate Office," Ace replied.

"I was hoping you'll make things easier," Marco smiled, but still opened the door.

Ace rushed off the car. "Fuck you," he yelled, slamming the door, then he run away towards his house.

Marco waited for him to enter there before leaving.

As soon as Ace closed the flat door behind him, he was attacked by two very worried boys. Luffy hugged him, grabbing his collar, and looked at him as a puppy looked at his owner. Sabo kept distance, but his face was focused, his lips turned in the inside as he was keeping for himself all the question he had.

"You won't leave us, will you?" Luffy asked, not letting Ace go even when he tried to take off his jacket.

"No. Of course no," Ace answered. "Why the hell should I?"

"Sabo said Soulmates go living together often."

Ace turned to glare at Sabo, who shrugged. "It's true. It happens, even when one of the two doesn't agree."

"I'm not going anywhere soon, so stay quiet," Ace informed them, managing finally to free himself from Luffy's grip. "My Soulmate is a jerk though."

Sabo's face, which had lightened up after the first sentence, became stone again. But before he managed to say something, Luffy chirped in. "Should I beat him up?"

"No, thanks, Luffy, I can do it by myself." Ace smiled and pet his head: maybe Luffy could be a little straightforward, but at least he managed to relax Ace, because Luffy showed how much he cared about them.

As Ace let himself sink in the sofa, Luffy was already at his side and Sabo joined them soon enough with two can of beer and a juice for Luffy, who took it and drank with not much pause. While Luffy seemed more relaxed now that he knew Ace wouldn't leave, Sabo was still very serious, something it didn't suit him at all. And Ace didn't miss the look Sabo'd given to his left hand, where the tattoo was visible.

"Tell us about your Soulmate."

Ace sighed. Sabo wouldn't have care normally, but Soulmates was an argument he was very adamant about and giving he was his brother, well, he couldn't be blamed if he was worried. So even if Ace wouldn't have preferred avoiding the story, he had no choice.

"He's a man, older than me… I didn't bother ask for his age, but I suppose he's almost in his middle-age…" Then voice Ace trailed off, as he remembered Marco could be at least a little known, so he didn't need to describe him as a stranger. "He's Marco Newgate."

Sabo gasped. "Newgate as the General Manager of the Whitebeard Corporation?"

Ace nodded. Luffy shifted his gaze between the two of them, perplex. "Is he famous?" he asked.

This time, Sabo didn't let him interrupt the conversation. "How can he be a jerk about Soulmates when the President of the Newgate Corporation is a strictly opposer of the Soulmate System?"

Ace shrugged. "Marco is anti-soulmate too. It's not enough for not being a jerk."

"What did he do?" Sabo asked then.

"He wants to fake a relationship with me so the Government won't bother him. Fake dates and things like that."

"Oh." For the first time Sabo's face appeared relaxed, so he lowered his gaze and rubbed his hands, unable to hold Ace's gaze.

"I know what you're thinking," Ace said. "That is a good idea."

Sabo licked his lips, then looked at him. "Yes, I do," he nodded. "Don't get me wrong, it's still so unfair forcing people in situation like that, but… It could be worse. I've seen worse."

He didn't specify, but Ace was well aware of what had happened with Sabo's parents and why Sabo was so adamant in his hatred for Soulmates.

"I've thought the same," Ace admitted. "It's a pain in the ass, but at least it's just a play. And I won't have the Government at my throat either." In some way, Ace was surprised his parents' legacy hadn't play a role in his _Soulmate Destiny Meeting_.

"Sure, it would have better if your Soulmate would just let it go," Sabo added. "But better than finding someone who truly believes in this bullshit."

Ace shivered, as Marco's words about what a Soulmate could do echoed in his mind. If Marco would believe in Soulmate… maybe Ace wouldn't have been there now. Maybe he would have already been locked up in some room in Marco's who-knows-how giant house. Ace's imagination created some scenarios about escaping prison or killing Marco without being arrested.

After all, faking dates didn't seem so bad. If only Marco wouldn't have got his nerve…

"Pity he's still a jerk."

Since he'd parked the car without anyone bothering him, Marco almost believed nobody would ask him about the Soulmate Destiny Meeting. Almost, because he knew his family too well. So he relaxed when he opened the door that connected the parking lot to the house and found everyone there, waiting for him.

Still, he hid the smile and pretended to be annoyed by it. "What is it?"

"Oh, com'on!" Haruta pleaded. "You don't really think you can get away with it."

"Right," Izou nodded. "You have to tell us anything."

"Starting if your Soulmate is a beautiful woman," Thatch added.

Marco passed his gaze on all his brother's impatient faces, then sighed. "You too, Pops?"

"Of course," Edward said, indignant. "I'm the first one who needs to know if I'm gonna to have a new son-in-law or not." At least, Marco appreciated the fact they tried to be as collect as possible about the entire situation.

"I'm tired, so for now I'm telling you only one thing." He ignored the groan erupting from the crowd. "I think… My soulmate and I will get along just fine."


	3. Chapter 3

"Do you see yesterday episode of Soulmatechef?" Moda asked.

They were at the University's gate, waiting for Doma to join them, since he was speaking with the professor. Ace's attention was focused on the gloves he wore, only to hid the tattoo of his Soulmate even if he hated them, so Moda'd tried to lure his attention.

"Oh… Yes, I saw it" he answered, blinking. "So happy Wanze was eliminated, he was so annoying."

"So true!" Moda exclaimed, smiling. "He was… slimy. Even when he talked with his Soulmate he sounded creepier than romantic."

"And he was a bad cook."

"Do you watch these things for real?" Squardo chuckled. Moda blushed a little.

"Why not?" Ace replied. "I like food."

"Yeah, but… isn't a romantic thing like 'I will cook at best because my Soulmate is here'?" Squardo replied, a little more hesitant.

"It is," Ace admitted. "It would be better without it, but at least there's food. Not like other things like 'Soulmate in Love' or other soap opera…"

"Yeah," White Bay agreed. "All the television programs have Soulmate in there, of course, but some are nice. I'm a fan of Soulmate Express."

"Ah, my brother loves it!"

"Here you are!" Doma yelled by distance and run in their direction. He panted to regain his breath "Sorry, I'm late guys, but the professor wouldn't let me go… Woah!" He looked in front of him, forgetting everything he was saying. The others followed his gaze to see what interrupted his monologue.

"Is that a Lamborghini?" Squardo asked.

"It is," Doma confirmed, his gaze still fixed on the car parked in front of the university gate.

"It… looks nice," Moda commented, just because the attention of everyone was on the car, White Bay included since she was a huge car fan.

When the car door opened and the owner appeared, Ace groaned. He'd suspected it, both because it was strange for such an expensive car to be parked in front of the public university and Ace have been ignored Marco's call since morning.

"Nice car," Squardo commented, as Marco reached them. Ace groaned again inside himself, knowing Squardo had just given Marco a way to start a conversation. There was no reason to justify themselves because they'd watched his car.

Marco looked surprise at first, then smiled.

"Thank you," he said. Then he passed nonchalantly his arm on Ace's shoulders. His hands grabbed Ace's upper arm a little too tight to be just a romantic gesture. "Would you like to introduce me to your friends?"

Ace restrained himself to kick him. He'd seen the look on the other's faces and making a fuss would be problematic to explain.

"Guys, this is Marco, my… Soulmate…" The last word was painful to say, Ace felt as someone was extracting him a tooth.

"Woah! You already found a Soulmate?" White Bay exclaimed.

"And you didn't tell us?" Doma added.

Squardo's gaze lowered to Ace's gloves. "Let me guess, the tattoo is there. Cracked hands my ass."

"Guys…" Ace murmured. "It's just happen so fast…"

He met Moda's face: at least she was the only one to be a little worried instead than excited or angry he hadn't say anything. Ace asked himself why it was such a big deal. And hated Marco even more for putting him in such a situation.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure Ace was just being reserved because of me," Marco smiled. His hands trailed off and stopped on Ace's hips, so Marco could draw him nearest him.

 _Too late to fix your damage_ , Ace thought. Still he took the chance. "You see, guys, we're still organizing thing so…"

"There is something wrong?" Oars joined the group; he had a very dangerous expression and his big eyes were focused on Marco, as soon as he saw the hand on Ace's hips.

"I don't think so," Marco replied gently.

"Everything is fine, thank you, Oars," Ace confirmed, since Oars's gaze had moved from Marco to him.

"Well, you can't park in front of the gate," Oars said, nodded towards the Lamborghini.

"Oh. My bad," Marco apologized. "Let's go, then?" he added, towards Ace.

"Sure…" Ace lifted a hand. "Sorry, guys, I forgot I promised Marco to… spent time with him."

"Soulmate are Soulmate," White Bay commented. "See you tomorrow in class."

Only when Ace sat down in the car and closed the door, he could let an exasperated groan. He fastened the bell before commenting, "You could have avoided introducing to my friend in this way."

"You could have answered my calls," Marco replied, any trace of courtesy disappeared from his voice. "Your move."

"How do you find my university?"

"A nice girl told me."

"A nice girl who works at the Soulmate Agency Office," Ace corrected him.

"All this fuss could be avoided. Just answer your phone next time." Marco drove and didn't lose time to even watch at Ace.

"Where are we going?" In the meantime, Ace grabbed his cellphone and registered the unknown number under the name 'THE JERK'.

"You'll see," Marco answered, with a smirk. "Next time you get to decide if you'll answer the calls."

"I will!" Ace yelled. "Stop pestering me about it. Gosh, you're such a child…"

Marco chuckled; giving the number of call, Ace could image Marco was really annoyed by him not answering and now was payback time. So Ace shut up and decided to follow him without asking anything more. He could complain about it later.

They parked the car in an underground parking of a five-star hotel. Ace never heard of it, but Marco was a frequent guest giving by the greetings he received from the front desk and by the fact that the director came personally to welcome them and they were received in her office. Without shame, Ace grabbed a fist of candies from the desk and put them in his pocket.

"In years it is the first time you will actually use one of our room for yourself and not only for your guests."

"It is an exceptional situation, as I told you in the phone, Shakky," Marco said. "I don't have to tell you I need maximum assistance."

"Of course," she answered, smiling. "Plus you know very well I only need to be pay well."

Marco lend her the credit card: it was an American Express Platinum. "I will pay for today and for a least the next three Tuesday and Thursday from now."

He looked at Ace, who just scoffed. He didn't mind.

Shakky grabbed the credit card. "I'll include everything you could need," she assured him. "And I'll give you a key you can keep, so next time you can access from the parking lot."

"That won't be necessary." Marco shook his head. "There's someone I'd like to be seen to."

They share a meaningful look, then Shakky smiled and gave back the credit card along with a key card of the room.

"Sure, then. I'll let my girls talk a little about it."

"Thank you." Marco stood up and Ace followed.

He felt like a child. Or a dog, bringing along without any chance of taking decision. Well, to be honest Marco'd said before Ace could decide for some location of their fake dates, but there was no place Ace wanted to go with him and he didn't want any occasion to use his money. Marco could pay only if he decided to do so, but Ace wouldn't ask for anything more.

As they reached the last floor of the hotel, Ace noticed their room was the only one. And of course it was the suite! Why the hell people used such big rooms in hotel, when the only thing one had to do was sleeping. Ace wondered if Marco was just used of being like this since he was rich, or it was another way of being a jerk towards Ace, since he'd refused his money.

Ignoring Ace, Marco put his suitcase on the desk. He connected his laptop and spread some folder around.

"I had work to do," he spoke at last, as he sat down. "You can use the other room."

Only when Marco nodded at it, Ace noticed the other door on the opposite side of the already enormous room, and it wasn't the one of the bathroom, because Ace had already the time to look at it and saw it has a Jacuzzi. So he opened it to find another enormous room behind. There was no bed in it, since it looked more like a living room, with three sofas, a giant television and a sideboard in a corner with alcohol bottles and other thing to eat. There was also a table with a coffeemaker.

Ace closed the door behind him, throw his sack on one of the armchairs and sank in the sofa. No rumors came from the other side. In some way, he was relief there was a wall and a door between him and Marco, still Ace found difficult to depict his life from that moment.

Would he passed time in a hotel room, twice a week, alone, with his Soulmate on the other side doing his own things, so people wouldn't bother them about refusing to have a relationship? Sabo's words about being lucky echoed in his mind and Ace agreed with them, since in other circumstances he could be tied up in the bed on the other side of the suite.

And Marco was wise enough to choose two days Ace was free from his part-time job, so having to spend some time in that suite wouldn't make him lose too much.

Still, Ace felt unease.

Trapped in something he couldn't control.

He didn't mind being looked down by people, as soon as he had Luffy and Sabo by his side. But Marco wouldn't let him, neither would he try to have an actually relationship. So Ace was stuck in being free from a relationship he didn't care about but he had to fake it for the someone else sake's.

He hated it.

But he had no choice than getting along with it, since Marco'd proved himself to be more than willing to use everything he had to force Ace in his belief. And as much as Ace hated to be so powerless and as much as he would continue to make things difficult hoping Marco would give up on him, he realized he wouldn't be free soon.

So Ace took as much as he can from the sideboard and put in his sack, in order to eat it with his brothers in the evening, then turned on the television: of course there was a lot of pay-tv channels, so Ace chose one of them and watched a movie. He couldn't study there.

He was half sleeping, the television still turned on, when Marco called him.

"Do you like a shower?"

"No, thank you."

"Let's go then."

Ace didn't let him repeat himself and grabbed his pack. He noticed Marco had used the bathroom and also the king size bed, even if Ace guessed only to prove they'd slept together instead of doing their thing separately. They didn't speak much in the way back, and Marco stopped the car right in front of Ace's house.

"We'll see next Tuesday," Marco said. It wasn't a question.

Ace didn't bother to say anything as he closed the car door behind him.

There was something unnatural in the way his family was speaking at the dinner table. They didn't tolerate any pause, the silence was filled with anything had come to mind, even if the argument didn't match at all with the previous. Despite the fact the Whitebeard Family was a talkative one, Marco felt they were trying a little too hard.

"Okay." He interrupted the conversation, and every head at the table turned towards him, confused. "Spill the beans."

"What?" Curiel commented, faking indifference.

"If you want to ask something, just do it." Marco didn't miss they were talking between themselves, ignoring him on purpose.

A sight erupted from his brothers, as they looked at each other. The gaze of everyone then stopped at Edward, who raised an eyebrow.

"Why me?" he protested.

Marco smiled. "Pops…"

"Fine," Edward grumbled, as he settled down better on his chair. "It's been two weeks. We think it's time to meet your Soulmate."

"No." Marco's reaction was immediate.

A choir of protest filled the air. "Why not?" Thatch cried.

Edward lifted his hand and the rumors stopped. "It's been two weeks," he repeated, his words directed only at Marco. "He's your Soulmate and you're trying to have a relationship with him. We'd like to meet him."

"You're just curious," Marco replied.

"That too," Edward agreed. "But you should know better than everyone your Soulmate is also family."

Marco passed his gaze on his brother's face. Their expression was hesitant, but full of expectations. None of them added something to Edward's argument, but a little smile erupted in some of their lips.

He should have expected it.

They didn't value a soulmate _per se_ , but since Marco had faked some relationship with Ace, it was only natural they wanted to meet him, to show him what the Whitebeard Family meant for them. And, in some way, maybe they'd like to check if Ace was really what Marco needed.

And Marco couldn't avoid it, no matter how he pretended he was trying to not make Ace uncomfortable, otherwise his family could start to suspect something. That, Marco'd like to prevent with any means.

He sighed. "Fine. But one condition," he added, before the happy cheers started. "I don't want you to ask Ace anything."

The cheers became growls.

"It doesn't make sense," Izou protested. "We want to know him."

"But I don't want Ace to feel like you're interrogating him," Marco replied. "I will concede you three question, but not more. Think carefully about them."

"We have a deal," Edward conceded him and the others, despite not being entirely satisfied, agreed. "Next Friday evening, is that okay?"

"I'm already on the menu," Thatch assured them.

Marco, however, didn't feel relaxed at all. Ace hadn't become warmer in the past two weeks, he barely tolerated him and forced Marco to do the most insane things to keep him in line. A dinner with his family could be a disaster, since it would be hard to hide the truth from Pops.

As soon as the dinner ended, Marco closed himself in his room and called Ace. Of course he didn't answer: no matter how Marco'd proved him it could be better answering, Ace kept ignoring his calls, as it was his only way of independence.

Frustrated, Marco left him a message, knowing he couldn't be sure Ace would read it. Either way, Marco would make sure Ace would attend the dinner with his family.

The phone vibrated, warning for the new message.

Ace groaned.

"It's Marco again?" Sabo asked.

He and Ace were enjoying an evening with junk food and videogames, while Luffy was sleeping at a friends' home as usual, but Marco's call ruined the mood.

"Yeah, probably." Ace shot a look at his phone, his mind arguing if the best way was ignoring it, but at the end he took it and press the button. He groaned even more.

"What did he say?"

"He invited me to a dinner with his family next Friday."

Ace threw the phone away from him, as it was its fault. That invitation wasn't part of the deal and Ace had no intention on playing boyfriend to a family dinner. And of course Marco didn't even ask if he was free on Friday night.

"You should go," Sabo said, gentle.

"To hell," Ace replied.

"I'm not suggesting you should go along with Marco's idea," Sabo specified. "The other way around, you could just take a little revenge."

"I'm listening."

"Bring them a cake with laxative in it."

Ace burst out laughing. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." Sabo smirked, his eyes shined. "I mean, usually I'd tell you not to, but Marco will force you to attend this dinner, right? Then…" He shrugged, as he reached for his phone. "Let's google 'how to make a laxative cake'." And he showed all the results he found.

Ace stared at the screen. Sabo was still smirking.

"Okay, I'll do it."

Marco'd waited for Ace the entire Friday, his car parked outside Ace's house. He couldn't risk Ace escaping the family dinner, even if that meant losing an entire day of work. So Marco was a little surprise when Ace exited from the door at the right time.

Ace spotted the car and entered whispering a greeting. He fastened his belt and adjusted better a packet on his kneel.

Marco drove away before asking, "What is it?"

"I made a cake."

Marco blinked. "You made a cake," he repeated.

"What's wrong with it? I was teaching to be polite when someone invites me at dinner," Ace grumbled back.

"Sure. Well… It's nice," Marco admitted. "Thank you." He remained silent for a while, then added, "I'm sorry, I tried to avoid this. But if everything will proceed smoothly, it won't happen again."

Ace nodded, but he didn't say anything. Marco wondered if Ace realized the best way to come off with the entire situation the Government had put them through was to behave in the less suspicious way. Marco decided he wouldn't say anything else: ordering Ace around too much could provoke the opposite reactions.

As Marco opened the gate of the mansion, Ace's interest sparked, even if he tried to hide it. After all, Marco's house was huge and so was the parking lot they reached. Not many people were able to look at it without surprise.

"All those cars are yours?" Ace asked, while Marco parked.

"None of them, actually," Marco answered, as he showed the way to reach the house. "They're my brother's, he's a huge car fan. We just use them since they're here."

Ace chuckled a little. "You sound as it's not a big deal having so many expensive cars."

Before Marco had a chance to answer about it, about how the money they gained were necessary to give them protection against the Government's influence, his family was there to greet them. Of course they were waiting for them at the very entrance.

The attention of everyone was on Ace, so Marco put himself in front of him, in a protective way.

"Stay put," he said, a finger lifted of warning. "Give him some space."

"Marco's right, guys." Pops' smirk was there, showing he had some plan of himself. "You'll all have time to know Ace at dinner. But first you have to prepare it."

Edward's words were effective. Most of them nodded and left, before throwing a last look at Ace. Marco, with a sigh of relief, grabbed the package from Ace's hands and lend it to Thatch.

"Ace brought a cake for us, take care of it," he said.

Thatch took it as it was a treasure. "Oh, that was so nice of you!"

He sounded so moved Marco smiled.

"Why don't you help your brothers, Marco?" Pops said. "Thatch, especially. He cooked all day just for this dinner."

"But…" Marco protested.

"Don't worry." Pops' hand was already on Ace's shoulder. "We'll join you at the dinner table."

Marco breathed hard. He didn't want to leave Ace alone with his father. His biggest fear was Ace spilling something about their little deal about their relationship and, if that happened, Pops would make sure they broke up even if it would cost him the entire company. Which was exactly what Marco would avoid.

In other way, Pops would become more and more suspicious if he refused to let them alone or he protested too much. So he had no other choice but nodded.

"Just remembered our deal, Pops," he warned him.

"Of course," he smiled.

Marco shot a last glare at Ace, before following Thatch in the kitchen.

He didn't like it.

Ace didn't like it.

Edward Newgate was intimidating, even if he didn't do it on purpose. And being alone with him in his own studio made Ace unsettling. It was clear Newgate wanted to speak with him without Marco around and, by Ace's own surprise, he felt Marco's presence could help him avoid the worst questions.

"Don't you have waiters to do thing for you?" he asked, remembering Marco was supposed to help for the dinner.

"We don't," Newgate answered, sitting down at his desk. "Only me and my children live here and we can take care of ourselves."

"I see," Ace commented, surprised since Marco'd looked a little spoiled.

He looked around: the office's walls were covered by picture. Ace figured they're all about his children, because he spotted some of Marco's. He counted in total fifteen different people and, when he laid his gaze on the desk, his guess was confirmed by a photo of all the fifteen people and Newgate together.

"They're my children," Newgate said.

"I figured," Ace commented. He was still stand at the center of the room, but Newgate didn't press him. He pointed at the photo and introduced him to all his children, as Ace tried to remember all of them.

"Portgas D. Ace, right?" Newgate said, after a minute of silence. "I knew a woman with the same family name. Portgas D. Rouge."

Ace froze. He hadn't heard his mother's name in years and that was the first time he met someone who had known her. Rouge'd come from a small town far from Red Line City and her death'd happened almost twenty years ago. It felt natural for Ace nobody knew about her.

Now Ace was scared about what Newgate could know about Rouge, and about him.

"She was a friend of mine's girlfriend." Newgate laughed. "Oh, well, I'm not sure I can call Roger a friend, but still… I'm sorry about what happened to him. To both of them."

Newgate's piercing gaze passed through Ace. He felt as he was reading his mind, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn't admit to be Rouge's son, even if Newgate hadn't pointed out Rouge and Roger weren't Soulmate. Maybe he didn't know, still Ace wouldn't admit any connection with both of them.

"Marco is a good guy, isn't it?" Edward looked at one of the photo hanging at the wall, and Ace couldn't help but followed him: the picture was a teenager Marco playing with a white dog. "He isn't my first child, nor the eldest here, but definitely he's the most affectionate of this family. And that worries me."

"Why?" Ace asked without realizing it.

"Because it means he will do everything to protect this family." Edward shot a meaningful look at Ace, but he didn't press further. "I understand him because I'll do the same, but… I'm the father. Protecting this family is my duty, not my children's."

Ace remained silence. He wasn't so sure if Newgate expected him to say something, so he didn't, even if protecting the family was something he could get. After all, he would do the same for Luffy and Sabo.

"But sorry, you're not here to hear me blabbering about it." Newgate smiled and wavered his hand. "I'd just like to assure you."

"Assure… me?" Ace said, uneased.

Newgate nodded. "People know me as a Soulmate-Hater, but I'm not like this," he explained. "I only hate what the government makes out of Soulmates. But if two Soulmates are happy together… who am I to hate it?"

Ace knew Marco hadn't told his family anything about their little deal, even if, from the way Newgate'd spoke, there were some suspicious about Marco's behavior. Now Ace understood why; he could tell Newgate everything and, he was sure of it, he wouldn't see Marco again. Newgate wouldn't allow it once he found out there was no relationship between Marco and Ace.

Instead, Ace nodded and said, "Thank you."

Newgate smiled; he was less intimidating when he did it. "Well, that's all. Sorry to having bother you about my worries," he commented, standing up. "Now let's go, I'm pretty sure Thatch is thrilling by you eating his dishes."

Ace followed him outside the office and in the long hallway, until they reached the dining hall. Most of the others were already at the table, except for Marco who waited for them at the door's step. He shot a suspicious look at Ace, who just shrugged.

Thatch's face appeared from the other side of the room. "Sit down, I'm coming," he said, his face blighted as he saw them.

"I'm hungry," Edward commented and he took place at the head of the table.

"Please."

Marco brushed against Ace's back, guiding him to the chair next to him. On Ace's next, there was the empty chair Thatch occupied soon after.

"I wasn't sure what do you like because Marco was very secretive about it," he explained to Ace. "So I made a lot of thing as appetizer, I hope you like it."

"You shouldn't have…" Ace murmured, as soon as he realized the table was covered by not less than thirty different trays. He didn't recognize the food in them, but the smell was magnificent. Ace's mouth filled with droll.

"Well, enjoy your meal!" yelled Speed Jiru, before reaching for the nearest tray.

Soon after, everyone was more invested in grabbing how much appetizer they could before the others. Ace found himself in the same game, because he was hungry and at least something good could come from the entire situation, so he wasn't going to let everyone eating his part of the meal.

And it was good, he had to admit. Some of them were _nouvelle cousin_ , things one could find in five-star restaurant and Ace had no idea of the ingredient, only that they tasted good and that he hadn't any allergies so he couldn't care less about the ingredients.

With a hand he grabbed things from the tray and with the other he stuffed his mouth with what was on the dish in front of him. He wasn't ashamed, since everyone was like him, but soon enough his narcolepsy took him and his head fell down.

He woke up five minutes later; with his surprise, no one was shocked or afraid of what happened to him. Ace guessed Marco had them informed about it. He wasn't happy, since in some way scaring people was the best that come from his narcolepsy.

Now that the fury of eating turned down, the conversation had started. Ace missed the beginning, so he didn't get all the story Haruta was telling, but she talked about professors and university, which surprised him since all of Marco's brothers looked old, around his age or older. Well, maybe Haruta was the youngest one, but still too old to be in university.

"So you're a university student?" he asked then.

Haruta blinked and looked at him. Since it was the first time Ace spoke, he got everyone attention; he regretted his ask immediately.

"Can't I?" Haruta replied, with a smile.

"No, no… I was just wondering…"

"That I'm too old."

Since Haruta wasn't offended, Ace nodded. "Yes. But, I don't know, maybe you took a lot of degrees."

Haruta laughed. "Absolutely not! I'm not that smart."

"Yeah, we know," Namur chuckled, with the result he got a handkerchief in the face.

"You're mean," Haruta commented, amused. The he turned towards Ace again. "The story it's less funny though," she said, with a sigh. "My parents died when I was a child, but I had the _luck_ ," she pressed on the word, and some of their brothers snorted, "to find my Soulmate, so I didn't end up in an orphanage. He was an old relative of my parents with a… particular love for children."

Ace didn't get how all the story fit with the university thing, so he kept listening.

"He refused to let me go to school, or outside in general, because he was afraid I could tell someone about the fact he abused me." Haruta shrugged. "It was just in his head, since pedophilia doesn't apply to Soulmates."

Ace's eyes bolded. He knew the Soulmate System sucked, but letting an adult abused a child only because they're Soulmate… "I'm sorry!" he exclaimed. "I didn't mean… You don't have to tell me, really."

"You're nice," Haruta smiled. "But it's an old story and it didn't matter anymore. Pops found me and now everything is wonderful. Well, almost everything," he added, smirking in Namur's direction.

"Hey!" he protested, and Haruta stuck her tongue out.

"You killed her Soulmate?" Ace asked Pops, since he didn't see other chance for her to get free.

"No!" Newgate was outrages, then smirked. "Well, I could have, but no. I only gave him a good reason to let her go."

Ace understood he wouldn't add anything else. He didn't care.

"I'm sorry," he said again to Haruta, who just wandered her hand. "I believed you all don't have a Soulmate."

"Oh, no, that's all wrong," Rakujo commented. "Many of us had already found one. Actually, Marco was the last one, I think?"

"Wrong!" Thatch exclaimed. "I'm the last one now." He shrugged. "I'm a gift to humanity all."

"Yeah, sure," Marco smirked.

"It's the press's fault," Atomos added. "Since Pops had spoken in the past about how wrong the Soulmate System is, they like to show us as poor sad Soulless, while we only had a lot of bad experiences."

"For example, my Soulmate didn't accept I'm trans," Izou said. "She was a girl and she wanted me as a male. I couldn't be."

"The contrary happened to me," Vista added. "Mine was a straight male who pretended I operated myself to become a girl. We were totally incompatible, but he couldn't accept it only because, you know, Soulmate."

Thatch patted Ace's back. "You and Marco are the first Soulmate Matching working."

Ace shot a glare in Marco's direction; funny enough, he'd chose that moment to drink, as he didn't like to comment. Ace knew too well the reason.

"I'm really sorry," Ace said. "I didn't mean for you to tell me all this story about your past…"

Izou shrugged. "It isn't important. As Haruta said, it's the past. Plus, Marco prohibited us to ask you anything," he added. "So it's only natural we have to talk about ourselves."

"I didn't prohibit you anything," Marco protested. "I only avoided you starting an interrogation."

"Son, you said we can only ask three question, and then you almost consider a question Thatch asking if Ace likes wine." Newgate chuckled.

"That's… not true. I was joking."

Ace looked at Marco. He has never seen him so frustrated. And he was… pouting?

"Well, I authorize you to ask everything you'd like," Ace said. He was amused by Marco's reaction. "That doesn't mean I will answer."

Well, it didn't stop them to ask everything they'd like. Lucky for Ace, Thatch decided the first course was ready and after that the entire dinner turned more ease, even for Ace who was able to sustain a conversation with everyone.

So he found out Fossa was the huge car fan and all those cars were his ones, Izou was a painter, Namur worked at the city aquarium and Thatch was the family cook because he liked it. Basically they worked together in the family company, where they mostly hired Soulless people. In that way, even the company looked like a family.

Marco, on the contrary, stayed silent for the entire meal. Ace was okay with it, because he found his family better than him.

"So, who has still some space for the dessert?" Thatch said, as he collected the last dished from the table. All the hands lifted in the air. "Wonderful, because Ace brought us a cake and it would be awful not to taste it."

The laxative cake! Ace'd forgotten about it. He jumped still. "I'll help you."

"No, no, you're a guest," Thatch smiled.

"I insist." Ace pressed and pushed Thatch towards the kitchen. "It's my cake after all."

"Okay, then. I'm a cook too, I get it." Thatch smiled.

The cake looked better than Ace'd thought the first time he'd gone through Sabo's plan. They burned the first three, before deciding to make a cheesecake that didn't need to be cooked. They chose strawberry, even if the result was a pink cake. So Sabo decided to put on the top a sugar doll bought in a pastry shop and around Ace'd placed chocolate biscuit.

It was nice. Even Thatch was pleased.

"Oh, it looked tasty!" he exclaimed as he freed the cake from Ace's package and put it on a tray.

Ace took the dished and the spoons and followed Thatch the way back to the dining all. Thatch was in front of him, so it was easy to just stretch one of his legs and let Thatch tripped. Thatch fell along on the ground, his face splashed in the cake, smashing it. The others laughed as Thatch stood up with his face and hands covered in pink cream.

"Thatch, are you okay?" Ace asked, feeling guilty.

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Ace… It was your cake… The cake you made for us…"

"It's okay, Thatch. Don't worry."

Marco stared at him, so Ace hurried to get back in the kitchen and grabbed some towels to help Thatch cleaning the floor.

Marco drove towards Ace's house. It was late and, for a moment, their brothers had considered the idea to let Ace sleeping at the Mansion, but Marco'd declined. Even if the evening had gone more smooth than he'd thought, his aim was to keep his family apart from Ace as much as possible, despite Ace was at ease during dinner.

He shot a glare at Ace: he sat quiet on the passenger's seat, hands in his lap, head turned a little towards the windows.

"Why did you make your cake fall?"

Ace blinked, startled by the question stopping the silence. He looked at Marco, then answered, "It was an accident."

"It wasn't," Marco replied. "What did you put in that cake?"

Thatch'd felt sorry about the accident, because he was the one who'd tripped, but Ace had no reason to do it only to displease Thatch. So there was another reason. And Ace himself wasn't surprise by the question, just unsure if answer to it.

"Laxative," he admitted, at last.

Marco busted out laughing.

"Aren't you angry?" Ace's expression was priceless: a mixture of surprise and pleasure, almost as if he considered Marco insane.

"I wouldn't have been happy spend the rest of the evening in the toilet," Marco commented. "But it didn't happen. Besides, I deserved it, didn't I?"

"Absolutely."

Marco laughed again and appreciated seeing a smile on Ace's face.

"Still, you haven't answer my question yet," he continued. "Why did you let the cake fall?"

Again, Ace was unsure if answer. He sighed. "You're the jerk, not your family. I'm not… It didn't fell right anymore."

Marco's lips bend in the corner. "I see. Thank you."

Ace started at him. "Can I ask you something now?"

"Sure. Go on."

"Your father… I mean, Mister Newgate… is against the all Soulmate System. And most of your brothers are people who rejected their Soulmate," Ace explained. "Nothing made me think they won't accept you not having a relationship with your Soulmate. Yet you lied to them about us and forced me in this lie."

It wasn't a question, Ace just recapped the entire situation. He didn't have the entire sight of the situation though. Marco sighed, his hand tightens on the wheel. Well, Ace deserved at least the truth.

"We live in a world where having a Soulmate is everything," Marco began. "Not having one is pitiful, rejecting one is shameful. And the Government promotes this idea shutting down any other oppositions who say otherwise."

"I know," Ace commented.

"So Pops decided the only way was becoming so powerful and rich people would be forced to accept him even if they pity him," Marco continued. "The Whitebeard Corporation is now something one can't ignore. And that is something the Government didn't like."

"Okay," Ace interrupted, frustrated. "But why are you different from your brothers?"

"I'm getting there, don't worry." Marco smiled. "All my brothers' stories happened years ago, when the Whitebeard Corporation wasn't so strong. Pops was seen as a poor Soulless, so people pitied him but he could still make affairs with them. And when the Government noticed we could be dangerous it was too late."

Ace chuckled a little. "I guessed they weren't happy."

"Not at all," Marco agreed. "They have been tried to stop us for years. Every time we had an important affair, someone slips to the other company what we are, to put us in a bad light. It's one of the reason why I became the General Manager. I'm… was a Soulless, it wasn't my fault. People pitied me, but they still made affair with me."

"And now you have a Soulmate," Ace concluded.

Marco nodded. "Yes. And I'm afraid the Government will take the chance to spit on us even more."

"Or maybe not," Ace wondered. "The Whitebeard Corporation is strong. Maybe people will look down at you but still accept you as business partner."

"Not Company who had relationship with the Government. They will prefer stick with them than with us," Marco corrected him. "And they're too much important for us. But if they believe I've a Soulmate…"

"I see," Ace commented. His tone was bitter, so Marco decided to tell something more.

"I spend my childhood in an orphanage and when I was eighteen, with no Soulmate, I was basically kicked out by everyone. No one would assume a Soulless," he explained. "I was a begged when Pops found me. Pops gave me everything: a family, an instruction, a job."

Ace looked at him with big eyes. He was about to add something, but Marco kept talking.

"I won't let anyone destroy what Pops built. Even if it cost me some freedom, even if I had to act as a jerk, even if I had to fake believing in this all soulmate bullshit. My family is everything to me."

Ace remained silent; he turned his head to the windows again. Marco wondered if he should add something to fill the silence, but he didn't. Ace could understand his reasons, or not. It didn't matter: he made clear he was ready to do everything.

"Stop the car," Ace said suddenly.

"What?"

"Stop this damn car. Now."

Surprised, Marco pulled over the road. Ace opened the car door, so for a second Marco believed he was running. Instead, Ace turned to him and ordered, "Come on. Hurry."

Ace grabbed him by the arm and dragged him in a near pub. Marco ignored all the people at the table and even the waiters, only focused on Ace's strange behavior. Ace stopped in the middle of the pub and looked around. When he was satisfied, he moved Marco next to him as he grabbed his phone. With Marco's surprise, he took a photo of both of them.

"You could have smiled," Ace commented, checking the results on the screen. "Whatever, I'm sending it to you."

Ace returned to the car without anything. Marco felt his phone vibrating in the pocket as he followed him, but only when they were again on the road, he asked, "Care to explain?"

Ace made a patronizing smile. "How can you to fool your business partners if you don't have even a photo of both of yours?" Ace's smile became a grin. "You should put it on your office desk, so people can enter and say 'oh, look how's happy with his Soulmate!', that's what you want, isn't it?"

Marco blinked: Ace was… helping him? "I will," he said. "Thank you."

Ace shrugged. "Protecting your family… is something I can understand."

When Ace returned home, no one was there. Sabo was on shift duty and Luffy usually slept with friends on weekends. For Ace it was okay, because after the dinner he'd like to sleep a little to recover. It'd been an intensive dinner.

He out the pajamas on and moved to turn off the phone, when he saw a message from Sabo. He was all excited to know how the entire plan with the cake went. Ace smiled, reading Sabo wanted photographic proves – it would be very embarrassing to obtain them. And the smile fell as Ace remember what he'd actually done with the cake.

Ace looked at the screen, unsure about the answer.

"Sorry, it didn't look as a good idea anymore," he answered at last.

It wasn't a lie after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Marco entered in the dining room, hearing the familiar sound of the Poker Night his brothers held on Thursday night. What he didn't expect was to see Ace there, instead of Blenheim.

He knew the dinner with his family had been good, even better than Marco could have expected. Ace behaved good and, for the first time, they were actually able to understand each other, sort of. Since that moment their relationship has been better, even if it was still fake.

He didn't expect, though, Ace would make friend with his family. Sure, it could be part of the act, but Marco rarely saw that happy smile on Ace's face. It was an unexpected situation and Marco wasn't sure how to react.

So he stopped there, perplex, until they spotted him.

"Ohi, Marco!" Thatch lifted the hand of the air; he was clear drunk. "Welcome home!"

"Care to explain why my Soulmate is here?" Marco replied.

"Blenheim got problems at work so we decided to invite Ace," Izou answered, unimpressed. "The fact he's your Soulmate doesn't mean he can't have friends; you know?"

"Plus he was really good at poker!" Rakuyo exclaimed, patted Ace on the arm.

Ace smiled slight. Marco moved his gaze on him, wondering if he had some inner plan or he was just enjoying a poker night with some people he liked. After all, his family was nice. But Ace had really a poker face, so Marco, for once, wasn't able to read anything.

"I was just surprised, that's all," he commented.

"Maybe I should have called you," Ace admitted, standing up. "I'm leaving now; I've got lesson tomorrow morning."

Marco looked at him carefully: his eyes were shiny and his movements slowly, his legs unsure. He grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Have you been drinking?"

"Marco, don't be a dad," Thatch protested. "It isn't a Poker Night without some drinks."

Marco didn't pay him attention, his gaze still fixed on Ace.

"I hold my drinks," Ace answered. "I'm not a child."

"I'm giving you a lift," Marco decided.

"I told you I'm…" Ace didn't get to end the sentence: he couldn't help but he threw up, the vomit spat on Marco's suit and shoes. Ace kept a hand on his mouth and mumbled, "I… I don't…" And he kept back a gulp.

Marco lifted a hand to stop his brothers, who got up concerned about Ace's health. "What did you let him drink?"

"Well, he was okay so I tried a little of Mirto, but…" Thatch began.

Marco sighed. Mirto was one of the strongest drink Thatch prepared, and he was hard to hold even for himself, despite the fact that he never got drunk. No surprise Ace wasn't in the best shape.

Without another word, Marco dragged Ace on the nearest bathroom. Ace didn't complain too much and, as soon as he spotted the water, he kneeled down and threw up again. Marco sat next to him, his hands on Ace's shoulders. Marco felt Ace shivering, as his body startled uncomfortably as he vomited, so he gentle caressed his head to calm him down.

Marco left his side only when he felt Ace was getting better, and only for taking off his shoes and suit dirty with vomit. He was planning to let his brothers dealing with it, since it was all their fault.

"I'm not like that…." Ace murmured. "Sorry about…"

"Don't worry."

Ace sat with the back against the wall, with not much distance from the water. He looked exposed. Marco wouldn't leave his side, but he needed something to make him better.

"Can you stay here for a second? I'll be back soon."

Ace nodded slightly.

Marco, with only pants on, went back to the kitchen.

"Is Ace okay?" he heard Thatch asked, concerned.

"Yes, but not thanks to you," Marco replied, as he grabbed a slice of bread and a bottle of water. "And you'll clean everything up."

He came back to the bathroom and sighed relieved: Ace was in the same spot and he didn't look as he'd threw up again. He sat down again next to him and lend him the slice of bread first. Ace took it and ate it slowly, without protesting. Then he accepted the bottle of water and took a long sip.

"Are you angry?" he asked.

"No. Of course not," Marco replied immediately. "Thatch shouldn't have-"

"I'm talking about the poker night."

This time, Marco took some time to answer. "No," he said at last. "Our relationship could be fake, but that's doesn't mean you couldn't be friends with them. They're idiots, but I like them too."

"We could have been friends too," Ace commented.

Marco opened his mouth, unsure. "I… I forced my hands with you, I admit that," he explained. "But it felt you're not interesting in the Soulmate Matching at all and I couldn't afford it…"

"Yeah…" Ace took another sip of water and he leaned more against the wall. He didn't add anything more and Marco didn't press.

Being friend with his Soulmate wasn't something he searched for, since all his mind was focused on protecting his family. Still, he wasn't so against the idea, but he wondered if Ace was speaking in that way only because he was drunk.

"I'm feeling like shit," Ace said suddenly.

Marco smiled. "I'm here with you."

Ace didn't feel something was off at the beginning: he was sleepy, the bed was comfortable and the light outside weren't so bright to bother him. Then his head pulsed painful and Ace groaned, abruptly awaked.

So the light seeped in the room through the thick curtains made him aware he wasn't at home. In a blink, Ace recalled getting drunk the night before and, even if the memory of him throwing up on Marco's expensive suit was funny, he groaned even more. He hated showing weakness like that.

Ace curled again in the bed; he probably missed lessons, so at least he could try to recover from the headache. His eyes fell on the bedside: other than his own phone, still turned on and with a lot of missed calls, two photos were there. One was the same family photo Ace'd seen in Newgate's office. The other was a photo of Ace.

"Wait, he took it from my Facebook?" Ace commented, as he reached for it to look better.

I was indeed a photo he'd put online sometimes ago, after he, Sabo and Luffy made a short trip in a nearest town. Ace was there, smiling for something stupid Luffy'd said and beside him was an ancient statue of a naked woman Ace didn't remember the artist.

"You're awake." Ace startled, and hurried to put back the photo. "How are you feeling?"

"My head is killing me, but I'm okay," Ace replied, hoping Marco didn't notice what he was doing. Even if, well, he wasn't the creepy one stealing photo from other people's Facebook.

"Glad to hear that," Marco smiled. "Thatch felt guilty about your health, so you can have whatever you'd like for breakfast."

"That's good!" Ace freed himself form the shelter, only to notice he wore something different from his clothes.

"You spread vomit around," Marco explained, with an amused smiled. "Your clothes are on the washing machine. You can stay in bed as much as you'd like."

"Okay," Ace snored. He felt exposed. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry."

"I don't really recall what happened yesterday…"

"Not even what you said?"

"What did I say?!"

Ace panicked. He didn't get drunken often and most time he was conscious enough to stop his tongue, so he had no clue about what he could have spilled. He feared he'd done something really stupid.

Marco sat down in the bed next to him, a smirk on his face. "You said we can be friend."

"Oh…" Ace sighed of relief. It was nothing dangerous. "Well, we could, but you're a jerk so…"

"There's something I can do to stop being a jerk?" Marco asked. "Except the all dating thing, because you know I can't stop, at least for now."

Ace glared at him. "I'll let you know," he smiled. Marco laughed, and Ace couldn't help but thinking he was a nice sight. "First of all, you could have been less creep and not stolen pic of me from Facebook."

"You put them online on the first time," Marco replied, amused. "But okay, if you prefer you could choose one by yourself."

"Do you want my photo so badly?" Ace teased.

"I'm just following your suggestion about being strange not having any," Marco explained. "I liked this," he added, pointed at the one on the bedside. "You look… like your real self." He paused, his eyes fixed on the photo. "Still, I don't mind another one." And then he smirked in Ace's direction. "And I don't mind a naked one too. Yesterday I'd time to get a good look at it." His gaze passed on the shirt Ace was wearing: of course Marco undressed Ace to take off the dirty clothes.

"Keep that one," Ace replied immediately, with a little blush, and Marco laughed again. "You know," Ace continued, "I've never seen you Soulmate Tattoo."

Marco blinked. "I didn't think you're interesting."

"I'm not," Ace shrugged. "But you saw mine, so…"

"Well, my Soulmate Tattoo is in a very hide place, I can't show to everyone." Marco stood up. "But I saw you naked too, so I guess will be even." And he messed with the button of his pants.

"Wait! Thinking about that, I'm really not much interested."

Marco laughed. "I'm joking."

"You know, you're turning from jerk to pervert," Ace snored.

"Not a good thing, I guess," Marco smiled. He sat down again and open his shirts, showing his right nip. The Tattoo was there since the time he'd met Ace.

Ace looked at it: at the first, he hated the tattoo on his hand, but now it was feeling strange seeing his own name on another person's skin. He lifted his hand and brushed him with the tip of his index finger. He touched the nip from mistake and a shiver pass thought his arms.

Then Ace's phone rang. It was Sabo: probably he was worried about the fact Ace hadn't sleep at home. Giving how much Sabo was protective about the all Soulmate thing, Ace had to answer.

With an apologetic smile, Ace reached for the phone. Marco closed his shirt and left the room.

Third try. Fourth try. Five try.

At the sixth one, Ace gave up: the scooter had broken. He cursed under his breath, because of course it happened in the day he should pick up Luffy from school. And since he was at the university, he couldn't do it with the public transportation, because he wouldn't have made it in time.

He took the phone and called for Sabo; he was at work, but his place was nearest Luffy's school. He could make a break as much as he need to check Luffy and bring him home. But the phone rang without anyone answering.

As much as Ace loved Sabo, he hated the attitude of never answering at the phone. Sabo forgot the phone around and usually it was almost impossible to get in contact with him. Ace scanned the address book looking for the number of Sabo's place or one of his friends, when he spotted Marco's number.

It was still organized as 'THE JERK', so Ace hesitated only a second before dialing it. Unlike Sabo, Marco answered within two rings.

"Ace! Did something happen?"

Marco's voice was concerned. No surprise, since Ace had never contacted him before, even if their relationship was getting better and Ace'd found himself actually liking his family. Someway, Ace felt they're tied up only by the stupid tattoo they had on their skin, so keeping distance was sort of freedom for him.

"No… Nothing worrisome at least," Ace answered. "My scooter let me down and my little brother is waiting for me at his school so I was wondering…"

"Are you at the university?" Marco interrupted.

"Yes. But I understand if you're busy…"

"No. I'll be there soon."

Ace hang up with a mixed feeling inside him. Marco'd asked him a lot of favor in the past, faking their relationship being the biggest one, so returned it was just fair. At the same time, Ace'd avoided to take something from Marco, to make clear he didn't appreciate the all Soulmate relationship. Still, Ace was okay asking friends for helps, and Marco was one of them, sort of…?

With a sight, he sat down on the useless scooter and waited. He didn't know how far Marco's office was, since he'd never been there. But, with his utter surprise, the first one arriving wasn't Marco, but Fossa.

"Marco told me you have a problem with the scooter, so…"

"You shouldn't have…"

"Nonsense," Fossa replied. "Let me take a look."

Ace watched Fossa examined the scooter with his tools. "It's the drive belt," he concluded. "It needs to be substitute." And, without another question, he opened the back door of his truck in order to put the scooter inside.

"Listen, Fossa…" Ace began.

"Oh, sorry," Fossa exclaimed. "Maybe you already have a mechanic you trust?"

"Not really…"

"Well, it's okay then," Fossa concluded with satisfied. "Tomorrow you'll have your scooter back."

Ace wanted to ask about the payment, since Fossa acted as he wouldn't mind it, but Marco's car parked in front of them.

"Ehi," Fossa greeted him. "We're done here; I'll go back to the workshop with the scooter."

"Perfect," Marco answered. "Sorry if I call you so suddenly."

"Don't mind it, it was for Ace after all." And Fossa shot Ace a smile.

"Thank you so much," Ace said, at last. As usual, he couldn't help but get along with that family. "You're saving me here."

Marco smiled. "No problem. Where's your brother's school?"

"Foosha Street."

They said bye to Fossa, who headed in the opposite direction, and Ace took place on the other seat while Marco selected the road on the navigator. They both stayed silent, most because Ace didn't feel talking: Marco looked fine helping him, as he'd done before with all the drunk story, but Ace was unease about how their relationship moved.

They reached Luffy's school just in time, so Ace rushed from the car to check for him. He heard his laughs soon enough and lifted his hands in the air to lure his attention.

"Ace!"

Luffy greeted him with the usual hugs, the turned around to nodded at his friends, who were used to the scene, so Luffy could continue hanging around Ace's neck while he returned to Marco's car.

"We can go alone from here," he said, ignoring Luffy's curious gaze. "There's a bus from here to our house."

"Are you sure?" Marco asked, without pressing. "I have time for another run."

"I'm sure," Ace answered in the same time Luffy said, "Are you Ace's soulmate? Wow, it is true you look like a pineapple!"

"Luffy!" Ace protested. His opinion about Marco's look was supposed to remain a secret.

Marco chuckled. "I am. Nice to meet you."

Luffy smiled, one of his big smile. "This is your car? It's cool!" And, without asking anything, he jumped in the back seat. "Will you give us a ride?"

Before answering, Marco looked at Ace, whose face became ashamed, before he shook his head, giving up. "I'm sorry," he whispering, as he took place next to Marco.

"It's okay." Marco was amused. "So… am I a pineapple?"

"I refuse to talk about it," Ace replied, crossing his arms and making Marco chuckled.

Luffy jumped from a window to another, enjoying the ride in the traffic. Then stopped and his head appeared between the two seat. "Hey, Ace, why we don't invite your soulmate for dinner tonight? We can have pizza!"

"I'm pretty sure Marco's busy," Ace replied.

"You can't answer for him!" Luffy protested. "Is it true you're not busy and you can stay for dinner?" he asked, to Marco.

"Only if Ace is okay with that," Marco answered.

Ace felt he couldn't say no, giving how much enthusiastic Luffy appeared, but he still took some time to decide. He didn't plan to let Marco in his life, no more than what he already took by himself, but since Ace ended up having relationship with Marco's brothers…

"Sure, why not," he said at last.

"Great!" And Luffy spend what remain of the journey to blabber about what kind of pizza they could order, and it stopped only when they arrived, because he ended up being too busy to reach the house door first.

"Are you really okay with it?" Marco asked Ace now they're alone.

Ace nodded. "Yes. But I can't assure you there won't be laxative cake."

Marco chuckled. "I'll take the risk."

So Marco parked the car in front of the house and, when he and Ace climbed the stairs, they found out Luffy had already opened the door of the apartment and decided to improvise himself as the house's owner. He forced Marco to sit down on the old sofa, he brought him a water glass Marco didn't ask for and the took a pile of flier so Marco could choose the restaurant he liked more.

"And here I thought my family was intrusive," Marco commented, as Luffy was distracted answered to some messages on his phone.

Ace laughed, while he sat down on the carpet. "Maybe I should have warned you."

"I wasn't complaining," Marco replied, as he took the first flier.

The door opened, so Luffy forgot about his cellphone, that ended up on the sofa next to Marco, and rushed to greet the new entry. "Sabo! We eat pizza tonight!"

Ace heard Sabo's laughs. "Okay. I order the usual, the one with everything on it."

"Me too!" Luffy exclaimed.

Sabo closed the door and smiled. "Well, I'm pretty sure Ace also will…" His voice trailed off as his gaze stopped to Marco.

"This is Ace's Soulmate," Luffy commented, the big smile still on his face. "He really looks like a pineapple, right?"

Sabo's face harshened. "Why is he here?"

"The scooter broke so I asked him a lift to take Luffy from school and Luffy invited him for dinner," Ace hurried to explain. He stood up and in some way moved next to Marco.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I did. You didn't answer." Ace snorted a little.

Sabo was annoyed. "Well… he shouldn't be there. Luffy is here, we don't need him anymore."

"I invited him for dinner!" Luffy protested, but Sabo didn't pay him any attention.

He grabbed Ace and pulled him near, before whispering, "Do you really let him in our lives?"

Ace froze. "Luffy was so enthusiastic…"

"Don't drag Luffy in this shit!"

"I'm really sorry to interrupt you." Both brothers tuned his head to Marco, who'd stood up and now was wearing his jacked again. "I just received a message, I need to go back to work." He smiled at Luffy. "We'll have pizza another day."

"Or never," Sabo murmured.

If Marco heard, he didn't show it. He only lifted his hand and said "bye" before leaving the room.

Once the three brothers remained alone, Luffy exploded. "Sabo! Why are you so mean!"

"I'm not!" Sabo protested, upset. "Listen, Luffy, that man is bad. He's giving Ace a hard time, so I'm pretty sure you don't want to force Ace to spent time with him, right?"

Luffy blinked. "Is it true? He looks nice…" And slowly turned his head to Ace, who cursed internally.

He'd never complained about Marco with Luffy but the first time, only because he didn't feel his little brother should be worried about him or about his situation, so Luffy had no idea Marco'd force him in the past to have dates with him. Luffy wasn't the curious type, so he never asked about Marco either.

Explain thing to him would be easier.

Sabo was a different matter. Giving his hatred for the Soulmate System, Ace was comfortable speaking with him about how much he felt trapped, even if Marco's idea of their relationship was better than others. The recent events made the relationship with Marco better than the idea Sabo had from his tales.

"Actually, Marco isn't so bad," Ace admitted.

"How can you say something like this?" Sabo was shocked. "He forced you in this all fake relationship and…"

"You told me first that was a good idea," Ace replied, with a little frown because Sabo was being unreasonable.

"Better than having to marry him, leaving this house and be trapped for life," Sabo corrected him. "It doesn't mean Marco was better than them, since he didn't let you decide anything."

"Marco has his reasons," Ace said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but I'm okay with the situation now."

Sabo's eyes remained fixed on Ace's face. "Are you lying to me?" he said at last. "Is he blackmailing you in some way?"

"No. No," Ace repeated. "Marco is… nice, in his own way."

"Okay." Sabo nodded. He patted a little Luffy's shoulder. "Sorry if I ruined your night."

"We can still have pizza!" Luffy exclaimed, as he saw Sabo heading for the front door.

"No, I had to go to one place," Sabo only commented before leaving.

Sabo took the metro; fifteen minutes later he climbed down and entered in an Irish pub. He didn't pay attention at the bartender and headed for the toiler. He chose the second one of the row, the broken one, then, without closing the door, he pressed one of the brink in the wall. The wall moved, revealing a stair behind.

Sabo climbed down; the wall closed behind him and the light turned on. At the end of the stairs, Sabo chose the nearest door on the right, entering in one room with decks and computer. He sat down at the last one of the last row and tuned on the computer.

He tipped his password and saw his familiar desktop. Only one document was there, naming "Ace's story". Without hesitation, Sabo moved it in the trash. He opened another document and stared at the white paper.

"Sabo!" A voice came from behind, and the light of the room were turned on. "You scared me. I thought no one was there anymore."

"You're here," Sabo pointed out. "Sorry, Koala," he added then, tired. "I wasn't planning it."

She sat down on the desk next to him. "Something happened?" she asked, concerned.

He licked his lips. "Do you remember I was writing an article about Ace's experience with his Soulmate?" When Koala nodded, he continued, "My idea was showing how much the Soulmate System can affect people's life even if they didn't believe in it, but… turned out Ace is okay with the entire situation, so my article is kinda ruined."

"In this way, you seem upset your brother isn0t miserable," Koala commented.

"Of course not!" Sabo groaned. "Just… I felt… Maybe I was wrong, you know…?"

Koala tilted his head on the side. "Do you read my article?"

"The one about the problem of pregnant woman?" Sabo asked, smiling. "It was great!"

Koala blushed. "Thank you," she said. "Now, please tell me you think the Soulmate System is right, even after hearing about women being forced in pregnancy they don't want by their Soulmate or women unable to have their own child because they find a Soulmate too late."

"The Soulmate System is sick," Sabo stated. "And we'll take it down."

"You was just a little upset because of Ace, I get it." Koala placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, in the end it wasn't right for me to use his story," Sabo admitted. "But now I need another idea and I'm having none."

"What about a little suggestion?" Koala asked, with a smart smile.

"I'm listening."

"During my researches for the article about pregnancy, I stumbled upon woman who died before finding a Soulmate."

"It happens sometimes," Sabo commented. "A Soulmate that die too young, or that is born too late…" He snickered: how could be destiny?

"Yes, but in this case you should still find some records," Koala replied. "The dates of a dead person were inserted in the system."

"And what if you died when your Soulmate is yet to be born?"

"The Soulmate, once he grew up, will find out his other half is dead," Koala explained. "It happened sometimes, and someone decides to meet with the Soulmate's family or things like that. But I checked: in some case, the Soulmate simply doesn't exist."

"Are you serious?"

"I found at least fifty people. They died the last century and, right now, their Soulmate hasn't been found yet. I think a hundred year is enough to conclude they didn't have one."

"Impressive…" Sabo exhaled.

"I guessed… Asexual people existed. They have Soulmate, but theirs is a legit sexual orientation," Koala finished. "What about 'Acesoul' people? People who just doesn't have a Soulmate."

"If that's true… One of the fundaments of the government's ideology about Soulmates will fall. Having a Soulmate is not necessary for human's life."

"You're better now." Koala jumped down the desk. "I'll lend you all my notes."

Sabo passed the all night checking towards them, even when Koala left, because it was too exiting about the discover. After the argument with Ace, he wanted some distraction and that was exactly what he needed. He would face Ace once he felt more comfortable with his own mind.

He woke up the next morning, with Dragon shaking him gentle. He felt asleep on the paper he was reading.

"How many times I told you to take your time?" Dragon said.

"Sorry," Sabo smiled apologetic. "But this story is great."

"Go home now."

"I will."

Dragon looked at him carefully. "Since you're here… Your twenties birthday will be in two weeks."

Sabo nodded unwilling. They both knew what it meant.

"Why?" he asked. "We should protest about it even in this little things."

"We can't risk to be surveilled," Dragon answered. "Which means you will register and you'll accept your Soulmate no matter what. We can just hope you'll be lucky and don't find one for now." Since Sabo wasn't answering, Dragon continued, "We're doing something too much important here to protest in this petty way. Understand?"

"Yes. I understand."

Marco drove back to the main building of the Whitebeard Corporation and he locked himself back in the office.

Surprisingly enough, he was pissed off. At himself.

What had happened at Ace's house had upset him, making him realized how much Ace'd suffered in the past because his own actions, at least giving how much the blond brother despised him.

He knew he should have happened since the day he'd decided how to act with his Soulmate, so he was okay when Ace despised him. It was an expected consequence. What Marco didn't foresee were his feelings for Ace. Since the day Ace'd showed him his true self, Marco realized he'd stopped to see him as a nuisance.

For a while, Marco thought it was possible having a civil relationship with Ace. Love didn't need to be involved, they could just be friend, as Ace'd proposed once. But meeting Ace's family had destroyed those illusions, showing theirs was still an agreement forced by the twisted system of Soulmates.

But, despite Marco trying to convince himself he was fine with the situation he'd chose first, he ended up answering without ever thinking at the phone once he'd noticed Ace was calling.

Funny, before that day Ace had never called him. And now, twice in a day. It was a record.

"Hi," Marco greeted him, trying to sound fine.

"Hi. Are you busy?" Ace's tone was wary, as usual.

"Not at all. May I help you?"

Marco regretted the question, but he had to ask: he wasn't stupid enough to believe Ace just wanted a nice conversation with him.

"I want to apologize about my brother's behavior," Ace said. "I mean Sabo's, not Luffy, even if maybe I should about his too," he added, and Marco could imagine his smile.

He chuckled. "I'm fine with both of them. Well, not fine about Sabo's but… I understand the reasons."

Ace sighed. "It's possible… I exaggerated a little my stories about you."

"In some way, I'm sure I deserved it."

"But it's not all…" Ace continued. "Sabo has… a very bad relationship with the Soulmate System."

Normally, Marco wouldn't have been interesting. He wasn't a curious person and he respected other people's privacy. In some way, he was sure Sabo wouldn't be pleased about Ace telling his story to Marco. But he didn't want hanging up so soon.

"I'm listening."

"Sabo isn't my real brother. We chose each other, along with Luffy," Ace explained. "His real parents are rich people, that kind of people who hates poverty and the poor." Marco heard Ace snored. "So all they wanted from Sabo was to be the Soulmate of some other important person, so they can become richer and richer. They're obsessed with reputation."

"And the Soulmate System goes along with it," Marco commented. It wasn't something so different from what Marco'd done.

"Yes," Ace agreed. "Once they understood Sabo's Soulmate wasn't among the people they could accept as member of their family, well, he became useless to them. They treated him like trash, despite him being their only son, and in the end they abandoned him. Sabo was almost relieved, because at that point he was done with their attitude." Ace's tone became higher. "Still, they were his parents and gave up on him just because he didn't have a damn tattoo on his skin."

"Sounds like one of my brothers' stories," Marco commented, bitter.

"Or yours," Ace replied, and Marco was shocked to understand he was referring to his experience before meeting Pops. "Besides… Sabo will be twenty in two weeks and he'll probably find his Soulmate, so can you blame him to be a little sensitive about it?"

"Not at all," Marco answered immediately. "I'm not offended about what happened, I assure you."

"I'm glad you understand." Ace was relieved. "I'll speak to Sabo about you."

"You don't have to," Marco replied. "After all…"

"No, no. We're okay now and Sabo should now… you're not so bad."

Marco couldn't hold a smile. "Thank you. Even if I'm not sure I deserve it."

Ace didn't answer, for a second only his breath was audible by the phone. "Well, I have to go now. Bye."

Marco hang up still with the smile on his face, but then sighed. His gaze passed briefly on the photograph frame he had on his desk, with him and Ace and his smile. Marco knew that photo was fake as their relationship, but he couldn't help but looking at him with joy.

He was ready to return back to work, when he noticed something dark between the index and middle finger of his left hand. He rubbed the skin, believing it was dirt, since he realized it was a tattoo.

A Soulmate Tattoo. With a particular name.

 _Sabo_.

Ace's blond brother. Marco would have laugh at the irony, if it wouldn't have been something so abnormal. Damn, Marco had done everything with Ace only to stay normal and now he had two Soulmate Tattoos? Was it some sort of twisted karma?

Marco was always so rational he didn't know how to react to something so irrational.

For a while he stood there, frozen, looking at his brand new tattoo with a mixture of awe and terror, the time necessary to regain some composure after the shock. Then he moved abruptly his gaze, disgusted.

His first course of action was, as usual, gaining some information about an argument Marco didn't know about. For his knowledge, people with two Soulmate Tattoos didn't exist, but it was also true that it was something the Government would keep secret.

Marco made some researches on internet; as predicted, he didn't find anything but a couple of websites which looked written by a mad man. He was ready to give up, when a pop up gained his attention.

He opened it to see a blank web page. In the middle of it, a red sign dominated. It said: 'would you like to know something about people with two Soulmates?'. Below, another sign advised to enter an email address to register at the website. Marco chose one email address he didn't use anymore and pressed the button with the sign 'enter'.

The page turned itself in a small chat. In the bottom, Marco noticed than, besides him, only another person was register there, with the nickname of 'webmaster'. Before Marco had any chance to write down some ask, Webmaster used the chat to give a couple of links.

Intrigued, Marco pressed to the first one.

It was an old newspaper article about the arson of a house, which had resulted in the death of an entire family. Marco gritted his teeth staring at the photo of the family, with a young smiling boy in the middle.

Not understanding what Webmaster was trying to do, Marco pressed the second link.

It was connected at the first one, a small interview about the best friend of the mother killed in the fire. The article was a little bit connected with Soulmate, since the interviewed explained she'd seen the mother after years of separation, because she'd moved in another town with her Soulmate.

" _Mary found her Soulmate after me, so I wasn't there when she married and when she gave birth. Last week was the first time me and my Soulmate saw her son… Such a nice, happy boy. I can't believe we lost them!"_

A third link appeared in the chat. Marco pressed it without thinking, too focused on finding out what was the meaning of that.

It was an obituary. Marco's gaze passed through the dark written, once he realized the pattern. The dead was the Soulmate of the interviewed of the second link, and his dead had come one month later after the arson.

There was a deep meaning about it, but Marco wasn't sure about it.

 _coolestguyintown_ : what are you trying to tell me?

Webmaster answered with more links. Marco pressed them in sequence. More articles and obituaries. The pattern was pretty clear: at least one of the people had already a Soulmate at the time of the death, and all the dead were accidental. In few cases, Marco noticed, the person had died after his twenties birthday.

 _God_ , he thought. The Government had killed all those people, only because they had two Soulmates, faking the deaths as accidents.

No matter how crazy the theory was, Marco didn't doubt the Government could be able to do something like that.

Still fazed by the discover, Marco didn't add anything, so Webmaster pressed him.

 _webmaster_ : do you understand now?

 _cooolestguyintown_ : yes

 _webmaster_ : do you have the second Soulmate Tattoos, or is one of your relatives?

Marco hesitated. He wasn't sure he could trust him, but he needed some answers.

 _cooolestguyintown_ : it's me

 _webmaster_ : do you already have a register soulmate?

 _cooolestguyintown_ : yes

 _webmaster_ : and the other one?

 _cooolestguyintown_ : will sign in few days

 _webmaster_ : did your other soulmate have the tattoo too?

 _cooolestguyintown_ : not sure

 _webmaster_ : truth to be told, it is possible he/she doesn't have

 _webmaster_ : you have to check, if it is possible

 _webmaster_ : the government will know you two met?

 _cooolestguyintown_ : yes

 _webmaster_ : okay

 _webmaster_ : we still have time

 _webmaster_ : the government doesn't kill if it isn't necessary

 _webmaster_ : so first thing first, you both need to destroy the soulmate tattoo

 _webmaster_ : without it, the government can't confirm you two are soulmate and it won't risk killing you

 _webmaster_ : they'll just pretend your second soulmate doesn't have any

It made sense, Marco thought. He stared at the writing of the chat, wondering if it wasn't imagining everything. But he knew the Government good enough. Since he wasn't answering, Webmaster continued.

 _cooolestguyintown_ : I don't know well my other soulmate

 _cooolestguyintown_ : not sure I can ask him about it

 _webmaster_ : ok

 _webmaster_ : do not go to the Government

 _webmaster_ : you saw what they'll do to hide people that have them

 _webmaster_ : but we can help you

 _webmaster_ : we can meet

 _webmaster_ : Mister Newgate

That was the last stray: Marco shut down the laptop abruptly and also took off the cable from the socket. He panted, his gaze lost in the air.

He didn't trust the Government, but he didn't trust a stranger on the internet either, no matter how Webmaster seemed expert about Marco's situation. And definitely Marco wouldn't trust a man able to understand who he was hackering his laptop.

He took the phone and press the apartment number three.

"Yes, boss?" Catviper answered with his usual cherish voice.

"Sorry to bother you, but I've the feeling our net was attacked. Can you check?"

"Yes, sure. My boys are already on it." Catviper's voice sounded perplex, but he didn't complain.

"Let me know."

While Marco waited for Catviper's answer, he closed his eyes and reflected about the best course of action. His mind returned back to the articles Webmaster had gave him, creating a patting in his head.

Sabo would sign for the _Soulmate Destiny Meeting_ in few weeks; at that point, the Government would know about Marco having two Soulmates. Webmaster said they would proceed with killing only if the found the tattoo.

Catviper called. "Hey, boss, looks you're right. The hacker didn't do any damages, neither stole information. I've no idea why he entered… But we closed him up now."

"Thank you."

Marco turned back looking at his tattoo. The only proof that Soulmates existed. Even with the Soulmate Center Brain, only the tattoo could certify two Soulmates.

There were no other choices, then.

He stood up from his desk and opened a drawer. He took a lighter and let he flame brush his skin. He gritted his teeth to stand the pain, but he didn't turn off the lighter until the tattoo on his hand was erased by the burn.

But it wasn't enough, he had to be sure Sabo would hide the tattoo too. Guessing he had one, of course. Giving his conversation with Ace, there could be possibilities Sabo would agree with his plan, since he hated the Soulmate System.

He could speak with Ace. He could even speak with Sabo. It was an important matter, after all. But his mind filled itself with the conversation that had happened at Ace's apartment.

He shook his head to cancel it.

He wouldn't say anything. He would only hope.

When Sabo returned home, he found Ace asleep on the couch, still dressed up. With a slight smile, he shrugged him to wake him up.

"Oh… you're here finally." Ace turned his head around, noticing it was already morning.

"Did you wait for me this entire time?" Sabo asked.

"Yes. I'd like to explain…"

"I'm sorry I'm so late," Sabo interrupted him. "And I'm sorry about yesterday. I overreacted."

Ace shook his head. "It's my fault, I… should have told you about Marco before. I hesitated because I knew your thought about Soulmate."

Sabo's expression became serious. "Are you really okay with this?"

"I'm not in love," Ace hurried to point out. Then nodded. "But now I get Marco's reasons more and I share them, in some way. We have an agreement and it works, so I don't complain."

"Okay." Sabo smiled and patted his shoulder. "If everything's okay, I'm fine too."


	5. Chapter 5

They were underestimating him. Just because that damn Vegapunk had been lucky enough to be the first one to implement the _Soulmate Center Brain_ didn't mean he was the only genius around.

Caesar was as good as him. No, even better. He just needed the right occasion to prove it. And it would have happened if the big names in the Government wouldn't keep asking for the best tasks to go to Vegapunk instead of him, forcing Caesar into mundane jobs.

"Do you have a minute, boss?"

Caesar stopped grumbling to himself about the unfairness and lifted his head to look at his assistant Monet, who had entered his office without him noticing.

"What?" he spat, annoyed.

"Today, I was called by the Scientific Department of Soulmate Matching Office because there was an anomaly in one of the results."

"Anomaly?"

"The System matched a new DNA with an older one… One that was already matched."

Caesar blinked. "A person with two matches for the _Soulmate System_?"

"Yes." Monet nodded.

"Definitely an error." Caesar shrugged.

"We did the matching three times. Same results." Monet took off her glasses and leaned forwards, her hands placed on the desk. "Do you know what it means?"

Finally, Caesar eyes shined. "Vekapunk's system is wrong. He made a mistake."

"Maybe. Or maybe not," Monet answered. "Our archives had an entire section about some anomalies… Things the Government doesn't like to be known."

Caesar's big brain was working at top speed. For once, he had an occasion to show Vegapunk was not perfect. On the other hand, he was waiting for an opportunity to study Soulmates and find how they actually worked. Checking an anomaly could be the first step to his wish of evolving the human species.

"First of all, we must make sure it's not a mistake," Caesar stated. "Call Vergo and bring the two subjects to the nearest _SDM Office_."

Monet bit his lips. "Boss… The standard procedure for anomalies is another one. Not _SDM_ , from the beginning. First we need to discover if the two subjects have met before, then-"

"I don't care. No standard procedure at all. Take them and tell me if they have the Soulmate Tattoos."

"And if they do?" Monet sighed.

"I'll let you know. Now go."

He was a man of the Government. Even if he didn't have any symbol on his clothes, Marco recognized him immediately. He spent too much time as a member of the Whitebeard Family to not notice when he was being followed.

Still, he pretended not to notice. Most of the time the government surveillance was annoying but harmless, since they couldn't do anything against the Whitebeard Corporation. And his relationship with Ace looked more real than ever, since his family had basically adopted him. No reason to panic, then, even if Marco now had a very big secret to worry about.

He reached for his car, when the man let the mask fall. He approached him and introduced himself.

"I'm Vergo of the Soulmate Agency. Please come with me."

"What if I say no?"

"It wasn't a question." Vergo's face didn't change, but he leaned his hand in his pocket, grabbing something inside it.

Marco sighed. "Fine," he nodded. The best choice was going along with them to find out what they wanted.

"Not with your car," Vergo added, as Marco opened it. He nodded at the black truck parked on the other side of the street.

The situation was becoming dangerous fast, but Marco had no choice but to obey. He cursed the fact he'd given Pedro the day off from bodyguard duty, too sure the Government wouldn't have approached him in public.

He followed Vergo, a hand placed in his pocked, so he could press the emergency button which gave his surveillance team an alarm. He did just in time because, as soon as the backdoor of the truck opened, he was dragged inside by strong hands, who searched him and confiscated his phone.

Marco avoided asking questions: the two men in the truck with him were masked, so it was not probable they would have answered him. Whatever was happening, the only hope Marco had was the Government not being stupid enough to kill him. Pops wouldn't go easy on them otherwise.

For now, Marco could only stay calm and not give them any reason to become aggressive. When the truck parked, he let them drag him whenever they liked. They forced him into a lift, and then pressed the button from the outside. Marco was left alone in the small space as the lift reached the destined floor.

As soon as the door opened again, Marco recognized the place: it was the same mirror room he'd found himself at the time of the Soulmate Destiny Meeting. Now Marco knew the reason of his kidnap and he also had an inch about who was going to meet on the other side.

Different from the first time, no one asked him to get naked, and the mirror door was already opened, so Marco advanced until he found the door where the two Soulmate met for the first time. And, as predicted, Sabo was there.

He was pacing like tiger in a cage, but when he saw Marco he stopped, his eyes and his mouth open. His arms were let free at his sides and, Marco noticed, his brain was working. Still, Sabo didn't say a word, something Marco was grateful for. Better not let them know the two of them had already met.

In the past weeks, Marco had managed to slip some harmless questions to Ace to supervise the situation, so he was pretty sure Sabo didn't have Marco's name tattooed, or he hid it pretty well. Now, Sabo's surprise told Marco the right answer was the first one.

They both stood still, without talking, but they didn't wait for long. From each side of the room came masked men that dragged Marco and Sabo in opposite directions, back to the mirror room. That time Marco was undressed, his body searched for a trace of the tattoo. Marco held his breath for the entire process, but luckily enough they didn't pay attention to the patch covering his burn.

"Nothing there, sir," one of the men said. A second of silence, then, "Yes sir. Dress yourself."

Marco didn't let them repeat it, and was relieved when they pushed him back into the lift alone. He breathed hard, realizing he was safe because Sabo didn't have any tattoo and his wasn't discovered. Once again he managed to escape the Government's hands.

The lift stopped on the ground floor in the hall one stayed before the _Soulmate Matching_ started. The girl at the reception looked surprised to see him, her smile apologetic.

"I'm sorry," she said before pointing him to the exit.

Marco rushed outside. It was possible Sabo had the same results, so they let him go from another door. So Marco ran around the building, hoping to find the right door before Sabo left. He guessed it was on the opposite side from his, since the Government kept the Soulmates as far as possible. It turned out he was right.

"Hey!" he called, recognizing the blonde hair from a distance.

Sabo was already on his way, but stopped and turned around to look at him. His expression was annoyed.

"It's you," he commented dryly.

"We need to talk," Marco stated, as he reached him.

Sabo smirked. "Pity, it looks like you're not my Soulmate so you can't kidnap me as you did with Ace."

No surprise Ace had told him everything. "Even so, I don't have a car with me," Marco replied. "They dragged me here as they did with you, I guess."

Sabo's gaze was fixed on Marco's. "I'm going home and I'm taking the metro," he commented. But he didn't specify anything, and he didn't say anything either when Marco followed along.

In silence, they reached the nearest metro stop and they sat down on one bench in front of the binary. Sabo was the first one to speak.

"You have the tattoo, don't you?"

Marco blinked. "Why do you think that?"

"You didn't look surprised to see me there."

"I wasn't," Marco admitted. He lifted his left hand. "It appeared after our meeting at your house." He slowly freed his skin from the patch, showing the burn below.

Sabo grabbed the hand, his index finger rubbing the border of the wound. "What did you do?"

"I erased it, in the only way I know," Marco explained. "Ace told me about your parents and for the system I already have a Soulmate… no need to drag you in this shit."

Sabo let go of his hand. "Ace shouldn't have."

"He was worried I misjudged you. I didn't."

Sabo's gaze was low, looking at the binary. "My body is cover with scars, so it is possible I have a tattoo but never found out. That's the only positive thing about the accident I had."

"What accident?"

"My parents tried to tattoo me with a fake and then bribed an employer of the Scientific Department so they could match me with the person they chose for me. I told a wrong name to the tattooist, the name of our maid. My parents were so mad they burned me to cancel it."

"I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be. They were shitty parents anyway."

Marco understood the topic they were talking about was hard to face for Sabo, so he changed the subject.

"Do you consider me a freak now? Because-"

Sabo laughed, interrupting him. "Because you have two Soulmates?"

"Yes. I mean, I don't really believe in it, but…"

Sabo looked at him. "We don't know anything about Soulmates, that's the truth," he said, serious. "The Government trapped the info in what they think is right and erased every anomaly. Believe me, I know."

Marco was about to ask if he spoke with Webmaster too, but Sabo continued, "This doesn't mean I have any interest in you. Frankly, I can't believe this is happening. But don't doubt for a second you're perfectly fine."

"I won't, thank you," Marco answered gratefully. "About Ace…"

The sound of the train covered his words as it entered in the station. Sabo stood up and drew near the binary. Only when the train stopped and the doors opened, he turned around.

"Ace is happy with you, whatever relationship you two have, so I'm okay with it. For me, this never happened." And he pointed out at Marco's burn. Then jumped on the train. Only when the door closed in front of him, he added, "but thank you!"

Marco waited for the train to disappear before he stood up and searched for his own way to return home.

Sabo didn't go straight home after the not so conventional _Soulmate Destiny Meeting_. Instead, he took another route to reach the pub he worked for. He ignored the clients and used the secret entrance in the restroom, entering into the Revolutionary Army's shelter.

"Hey, Sabo!" Bunny Joe greeted him, but his face fell as soon as he saw Sabo's expression. "Did something happen with the _SM_?" he asked immediately, remembering Sabo signed himself a few days ago.

"You can tell?" Sabo said tiredly. "Can I speak with Dragon?"

"Sure. He's in his office."

Sabo nodded and moved towards the dark hallway to reach the last door. He knocked, but entered without waiting for an answer. Dragon didn't lift his head, his eyes fixed on the computer's screen, finger pressed on the mouse.

"I had a _SDM_ ," Sabo affirmed, standing still in front of the desk Dragon was sitting at.

Dragon nodded and, with his hand, ordered Sabo to sit down. Once he did, Dragon finally looked at him. He studied his expression for a second, then said, "Tell me."

And Sabo told him everything. Well, almost everything. He skipped Ace's story, starting instead when he and Marco had met, and ending with his conversation with Marco at the metro station. Dragon listened in silence.

"Some weeks ago, Mister Newgate opened our website," Dragon commented. "We found him because he was searching about people with two Soulmates."

"Oh."

"Bunny Joe rushed things a little, so we didn't manage to bring him to us. Pity we hadn't understood he was speaking about you."

"It's still a good thing," Sabo concluded, with a smile. "I won't have to worry about my Soulmate anymore. I don't have one."

"You were lucky," Dragon stated. "If Mister Newgate hadn't noticed the tattoo… you both would have been killed."

"I know." Maybe he hadn't showed it back then, but when he'd seen Marco he'd felt it was over.

"Would you like to use it against the Government?"

"No."

The answer came immediately. Revealing this story would drag Marco into it, and Sabo didn't want that. Not only for Marco, but for Ace.

Dragon nodded. He moved forward and pull Sabo's arm in front of him, palm towards the ceiling. His pointer finger tapped on Sabo's right wrist.

"Still, we're making sure you'll be safe from now on."

When Marco returned home he was greeted by a concerned Thatch.

"Dogstorm received your alarm call, then he found your cellphone abandoned in the street, we were so worried…"

Oh. Right. With all the fuss Marco forgot they had confiscated his phone without giving it back.

"I apologize," he said. "I lost it somewhere. The alarm call was probably a mistake."

Thatch wasn't convinced, but he also knew that he could gain something else if Marco decided to keep a secret, so he nodded. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour."

"Thank you."

Marco took time to go in his room and have a shower, so he could shove off the dirt he felt after the event of the day. Then, when his brain cooled down enough, Marco sat at the desk and wrote a small letter explaining the situation about him, Ace and Sabo.

He hid it in his closet, under a pile of sweaters. It could be useful for the time being.

"You made a mistake."

Caesar couldn't wait to gloat about it as soon as he'd found out the two subjects weren't Soulmates at all. In some way, the satisfaction of rubbing it in Vegapunk's face was better than having guinea pigs for experimentation.

"A matching result for two people that aren't Soulmates. Heck, one of the two already has his Soulmate, the poor guy could have a heart attack!"

Vegapunk wasn't impressed. "I don't make mistakes."

"You just did!" Caesar laughed.

"Did one of the two man have scars? Or any kind of wounds? Because it is possible to not having a tattoo if the skin is damaged."

The sentence made the laugh die in Caesar's throat. He looked at Vegapunk's face, while his memory came back to the picture taken from the Mirror Rooms. One of the two was covered in scars, and the other… did the other have a wound too?

Since Caesar wasn't replying anymore, Vegapunk shrugged and turned around, letting Caesar face his last defeat. Angry for being fooled, Caesar rushed back to his office.

"What?" he barked at Monet, whom he found sitting down in his own chair.

"I did some research," Monet said, not bothered at all by Caesar's attitude. "The subject n. 34125, Sabo Outlook, lives in the same house of subject n. 30867, Portgas D. Ace."

"Very interesting," Caesar commented with sarcasm.

"Portgas D. Ace is Marco Newgate's Soulmate. Marco Newgate is subject n. 10345, of course." Now Monet was smiling, waiting for Caesar to realize it.

"So Marco Newgate is supposed to have two Soulmates that live together?"

"More importantly, it is highly possible that Marco Newgate and Sabo Outlook met before our _SDM_." Monet opened a folder, leafing through the picture. "And funny enough, Marco Newgate has a curious patch on his left hand." She lends the picture to Caeser, who looked at it carefully.

"So you're saying that this patch hides the tattoo?"

"Or a wound that was used to erase it. After all, having two tattoos is an abnormality everyone would try to hide."

Finally, Caesar smiled again, all traces of his rage disappeared.

"I want to study them."

Drunkenness was something Marco wasn't used to. Thatch was very frustrated by it, but Marco could drink more than usual and still be himself, even if all the people around him were completely drunk.

So the first thing that came to Marco's mind as he regained consciousness was Thatch's amused expression in finding out even he can actually get drunk.

Then, some images surfaced from the mist of his mind. He was at Ace's place, for some reason... Ah, yes, Ace had forgot a book in his car and Marco had gone back to return it. Marco remembered clearly Sabo's figure sitting on the sofa, pretending not to look at him.

Marco blinked. Someone… Someone entered from the door and dragged him away. Government people? He remembered being forced on a stretcher, someone holding an oxygen mask on his face, and then someone had taken his hand and checked the burn…

Marco awoke abruptly, breathing hard. He hadn't remembered everything, but it was clear he was kidnapped and drugged. And whatever reason they had, it was connected with his Soulmates.

No surprise, then, when Marco found out he wasn't alone in whatever place he was. Sabo and Ace lay down next to him, still asleep. Like him, they were both naked. Marco noticed the sign of injection on Ace's arm and, immediately, he looked at himself. In his arm there was the same sign, and Marco wondered if they had taken some blood from them or, worse, they put something inside them.

Finally, Marco observed the surroundings. He was on a king size bed, with three pillows, and a black cover. The room was small, impersonal; it looked like a hotel room, since there weren't any pictures or ornaments around and all the furniture was new. No windows, so the room was lit by two flower lamps in the corner. The color of choice was peculiar, since both the wardrobe on the left wall of the room and the closed door were red.

And even more peculiar was the mirror on the ceiling, who gave back to Marco the image of his naked body, alongside Ace's and Sabo's. It made him feeling dirty.

He couldn't see any point in kidnapping and locking them in a bedroom. And not understanding worried him more.

He shook Ace to wake him up. Marco felt he'd looked at him long enough. Slowly, Ace blinked.

"Marco, what…" And then he realized he was naked, in a bed with Marco. He blushed and immediately moved a few inches away. "What the hell…?"

"No idea," Marco said. He moved and left the bed. "What do you remember?"

But, now that Marco's body was out of the way, Ace spotted Sabo and immediately reached for him. "Sabo! Sabo!"

"What!" Sabo protested, hiding his head behind the nearest pillow. "Let me sleep!"

Marco chuckled. "I'm glad he's so relaxed," he commented.

Ace shot him a glare. "What happened?"

"As I said, I had no idea," Marco answered. "The last thing I remember is-"

"You brought back my book," Ace interrupted him. "And then…"

"Someone kidnapped us." It was Sabo's voice. Now that he was fully awake, he took in the situation in a second.

"Why?" Ace's look passed between Marco and Sabo, perplexed. "I mean, I can understand kidnapping Marco for ransom, but…"

Sabo bit his lip. Slowly, he moved away from the bed.

"Have you seen what's behind the door?"

"Not yet," Marco said. "First things first, I was looking for something for cover myself."

Sabo noticed in that instant they were naked, and looked away. Ace blushed, but his eyes passed over Sabo's scars, which covered all the left side of his arm and torso, and then focused on Marco's tattoo below his left nipple.

Marco opened the first of the three closet doors. He counted three different slacks, four or five shirts and a couple of t-shirts. Inside the closet were also two drawers which contained pants and socks and, at the bottom, a pair of slippers. As he checked, Marco noticed the clothes were new, since they still had the tag price, and they had his size.

Whoever had kidnapped them, they hadn't done it for money. And not for hurting them, since he had taken so many efforts to prepare all those for them.

Marco grabbed a white shirt and jeans and dressed himself fast. Once he finished, he looked up. The other two closet doors were made for Ace and Sabo, as they had found clothes of their size. Now that the three of them weren't naked anymore, Marco could take a relieved breath.

"Who the hell kidnaps people and then buys clothes for them?" Ace commented. Again, Sabo bit his lip.

"I'll go ahead," Marco stated, as he reached for the red door.

"It is open?" Ace asked, dubious.

Marco lowered the handle, and the door moved. Slowly, he pushed it and took a step ahead. He found himself in another room.

A big windows took up the entire opposite wall, but Marco didn't recognize the garden he could see outside. At his left, there was another door; it was half open and he glimpsed a bathroom.

In the center of the room was a big black sofa in front of a low table and a 42-inch screen. The room also had a kitchenette, with a small dinner table with three chairs. There was a metal door next to the kitchenette, but with not handle to grip.

"I bet the fridge is full," Sabo said.

"This is insane," Ace commented. "What kind of psychopath is doing this?"

"Good Morning!" A metal voice came out of nowhere.

Marco looked around, but he didn't spot any speaker. He didn't doubt that there were also hidden cameras around the room. He felt naked even more.

"I apologize for the rudeness from before, but it was an emergency situation," the metal voice continued. "And it's all for your own good."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sabo muttered.

Marco was more diplomatic. "So can we know who you are and why we're here?"

"I'm the head physician of infectious diseases, my name isn't important," the voice said. "We were informed you three have been exposed to a very dangerous disease named Amber Lead Syndrome. It is a contagious disease and the vaccine is effective only in 20% of cases. It is contagious by air and the disease can incubate for even forty days before the subject shows the first symptoms. For this reason, we had to isolate you until we're sure you're not contagious nor sick."

"That's a poor excuse!" Ace snapped. "We should be in a hospital, checked by real doctors!"

"Your relatives and your employers are already aware of your situation," the voice continued as if he didn't hear a word of what Ace had said. "But you can still contact them in person using the phone behind you."

Marco turned around and noticed in that moment the small half-moon shelf next to the door without handle; there was a phone on it. He couldn't help but smile thinking about Pops finding out his General Manager was kidnapped with that poor excuse.

"I can't stay here for forty days!" Ace protested. "I have work. I have university. And I have Luffy to take care of!"

"You will have for this forty days everything to live and work from your room. For every other need you have, please dial one on the phone."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ace marched and grabbed the phone, furiously pressed the button one. No one answered. "Damn you." Ace throw the receiver on the shelter, exasperated. "I'm not staying here one minute more."

He reached for the big window, but of course it couldn't be opened. Before Marco could stop him, Ace grabbed one of the chair and tossed it against the window. The glass broke, but the chair slammed against something hard and bounced back, almost hitting Ace in the process.

The window wasn't a window, but only glass put against a metal wall. The light was made artificially by some small lamps behind the glass and, Marco guessed, it was a hologram that created the garden outside.

"Don't be fooled," Sabo commented bitter. "This is not a house; this is a cage inside some lab and we're their guinea pigs."

Marco placed his arms on Ace's shoulders and gently moved him away from the glass now spread on the ground. Ace's feet were still naked and Marco was worried he could hurt himself, but Ace shook off his grip. Marco didn't press.

"Are you okay with this?" Ace took two steps back, dangerously near the glass, and faced both Marco and Sabo, who had remained near the door of the bedroom. "All this disease bullshit. You don't believe it, do you? We have to do…" He looked at Sabo. "Luffy needs…"

And then his voice trailed out as realization hit him.

"You know why we're here," Ace stated. "You know."

Marco sighed. He didn't know for sure, but he had a strong guess about it. But he and Sabo had an agreement about it, so he turned around to face Sabo and let him decide. Between the two of them, Sabo was the one closer to Ace.

"We know," Sabo confirmed. He took two steps and slammed down on the sofa. "They're studying us because they think Marco has two Soulmates. You… and me."

Ace blinked. "Is it possible?"

"Both of us were dragged to the _Soulmate Office_ and the analysis of my DNA matches Marco's," Sabo explained. "But we don't have the tattoos, so they let us go…"

"Or so we thought," Marco added, looking around.

"I'm covered in scars," Sabo stated. "Of course they can't be sure. And about Marco…"

Marco lowered his left hand and covered the wound he had with the other, but he was sure Ace didn't miss it.

"As you said, Ace, we're not in a hospital. We're in a lab, and they probably would like to study the behavior of strange creatures with two Soulmates…" Sabo closed his hand and his knuckles became white. He was angry. "Of course they won't just tell us that."

Ace hadn't moved his gaze from Marco's hand. "God…" he exhaled. "It's my fault."

Marco blinked. His mind rushed back to find something Ace could have done that revealed the secret, but nothing came. Sabo, instead, jumped up.

"No! Not at all!"

"Yes!" Ace replied. He was shaking. "You… You and Marco are supposed to be Soulmates. I'm in the middle of this… God, I'm so sorry…"

Marco had never seen Ace like that. Sure, he'd witnesses a moment of weakness when Ace had gotten drunk, but it wasn't like this. He felt the urge to go and hug him, to comfort him. Whatever Ace could have done, they could fix it. Together. And for sure it wasn't Ace's fault they got caught in this bullshit about Soulmates…

Still, he didn't move. It wasn't his place, as much as it hurt. Sabo was already in front of Ace, one of his hands on Ace's shoulder to keep him away from the glass on the ground.

"This isn't your fault," Sabo repeated. "These things… people with two Soulmates… they happen. Even if the Government erased them from the existence, it's something that already happened. I know. You don't have any fault in this."

"Are you sure?"

"You don't trust me anymore?"

"Of course I trust you." This time, Ace's voice was sure.

"Good." Sabo smiled.

Ace took a deep breath. "So, what do you suggest? It's clear my plan was a failure." He nodded at the broken glass behind him.

"For now, there's nothing we can do here," Marco commented. His gaze was still on Ace's face, looking for any sign of distress. "But we can call people outside, so at least they'll know we're okay."

"Yeah, we should call Luffy," Ace nodded.

"We'll be out of there soon, I'm sure," Sabo said.

Marco wasn't so optimistic, but for now they had no other choice. He pointed at the telephone. "Do it first, I'll call Pops later."

"Can I ask something, Boss?"

Monet drew near Caesar's armchair, a record in her hands and her glasses on.

"Sure."

"Don't you think it's risky letting them contact the outside?" Monet asked. "I appreciate the idea of the disease," and at that Caesar grinned, "but I'm not sure it'll be safe for our operation if other people outside our laboratories know it. Especially," she bent down to whisper at his ear, "because it's not an official operation."

"Your concern is understandable." Caesar patted her hips. "But it's a risk we have to take. If we want to study their behavior they have to act as natural as possible. Not having them contact their relatives outside will mean they would be too focus on escape."

"I see."

"But I'm pretty sure you'll do your best to keep the situation under control," Caesar grinned again.

Monet smirked. "I've already sent some of our men to speak with Mister Newgate and Mister Portgas's family. We'll keep an eye on them to be sure they don't contact the wrong people."

"Good." Caesar stopped looking at her and returned back to the multiple screens: two of his three guinea pigs were exploring the room, the last one was speaking on the phone. "What is he saying?"

"He has some requests to keep working," Monet explained. "A laptop, for example. I'll make sure we can control the contents before it goes online."

"Do the same even with phone call," Caesar ordered. His eyes became smaller, as he focused on the screen, noticing his three guinea pigs tried to stay separated in different groups, which wasn't his plan.

"The place is too small, they can't continue for long," he said to himself, as Monet left to take care of everything.


End file.
